The Band of Nine
by Lord Blood
Summary: The Kyuubi no Youko is sealed into Naruto at the age of 12 by the Shinigami, who follows it up by sealing the rest of the bijuu into eight other shinobi. This is Naruto's story. Written before the real jinchuuriki were released.
1. Chapter 1: The Ninth Container

The Band of Nine

Summary: The Kyuubi no Youko is sealed into Naruto at the age of 12 by the Shinigami, who follows it up by sealing the rest of the bijuu into eight other shinobi. This is Naruto's story. Will be epic length. Pairings undecided. Powerful!Naruto

Prologue

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Deep in the hospital of Konohagakure, a blonde man with dull blue eyes stared up at his wife. The machine he was hooked up to continued its incessant beeping.

"No, no, no," the woman cried. "Don't leave me and our baby alone. He needs a father, and I need my husband!"

"I'm...sorry." A cough interrupted his reply. "My time is approaching. I just want to say...I...love...you-"

Beeeeeeeeeeeeep...

The life-support machine signaled a flat-line, showing that the greatest hero of Konoha and greatest shinobi in the world, Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, passed away in the dead of the night.

A month later shows the woman back in the hospital, except this time she's the one in the bed.

"Push! Push!" the medic yelled at her. "Now take a deep breath and just push one more time!"

Just as the woman took a breath a bolt of red lightning seemed to appear from nowhere and struck her bulging abdomen. She let loose a piercing shriek. The red light was so powerful that it immediately killed the two medics in the room.

The door burst open to show an old man with many wrinkles, followed by a second old man, whose white hair seemed to reach past his back.

"What happened?" the first old man yelled in horror. The sight of the two dead medics was not pretty. Both were burnt beyond recognition, and both men found the smell overbearing. However, the pregnant woman ignored the smell and the sight as she continued to pant.

"He's coming, oh kami-sama, he's coming," she moaned.

The first elderly man headed right towards her and put a reassuring hand on her right shoulder. "It's ok. Just push, and you'll make it through."

"No. My time is approaching as well. It's my time to go meet up with Minato-kun up in the firmament. Please, please Sarutobi-sensei, take care of my child. He will take up my name, since Minato-kun's enemies would love to get their hands on his baby."

Her pleas to the Sandaime were interrupted by a loud wailing. Sarutobi picked up the small baby and handed him to his mother. The baby's blue eyes opened up and stared into his mother's green eyes for a brief moment.

"My...precious...Naruto-kun." And thus, Uzumaki Kushina, wife of the greatest ninja to appear in the Elemental Countries, passed away in the dead of the night.

Chapter 1: The Ninth Container

The crickets chirped. The owls hooted. The leaves swayed as a weak gentle wind blew on it. It was a normal night in Konoha. Unfortunately, the tranquil peace was disturbed by a flash of light.

A young blond boy was peacefully sleeping on his bed, when the clock in his room struck midnight. Immediately, a bright flash erupted from nowhere and engulfed said blond. The boy, who was immediately awake at the flash, brought his hands up to his face to block out the bright light. When the light faded, the boy's surroundings had changed. The blond swung his head back and forth. He was in a small dingy apartment a second before, sleeping on his small dingy bed. Now, he was looking at a vast wasteland, full of decrepit trees and rotting land.

**Ahem.**

The boy's head immediately snapped to the direction the voice came from. Above. There, towering over the short blond, was a giant figure, dressed in a black garment. The sides of the cloth were frayed, as if it were thousands of years old. The cloth complete covered whoever was under it, as no skin was seen. Not even the bottom of the figure's feet could be spotted. Glowing red eyes could be seen through the hood of the cloak, and honestly, they terrified the boy, despite the fact that the boy was known to be the king of stoics. Too bad it wasn't as scary as the scythe in the figure's hand.

**It is time. As you may have guessed, I am the Shinigami, young mortal.**

The mortal, terrified beyond all belief, stuttered out a question. "A-a-are you here to take my soul?"

**Oh no, your time is not up yet. **The figure chuckled.

"Then...w-what am I doing h-h-here?"

**I am here to award you your birthright, as it is my job to do when you turn twelve.  
**

"W-what birthright?" His stuttering began to stop.

**Have you not wondered why everyone seemed to dislike your very presence, no matter what you did when you were younger? This is because you, young Namikaze Naruto, carry the genes of the Kyuubi no Youko. Those genes naturally give off a pheromone that hits the "danger" nerves in a civilian, and thus, they felt threatened by your presence. And we all know that fear leads to hatred. **

"Wait, wait, what?" he asked. The source of his confusion came from the influx of information he just received from the Shinigami in front of him.

A deep rumbling laughed escaped from the place where one would assume a shinigami's mouth would be.

**You see, Kami-sama placed the genes into you when you were still in your mother's womb. Why she chose you, I have no idea. The genes altered your DNA, which is why you are so unnaturally tall and strong for a twelve year old, and gave off a "warning" signal to everyone nearby, so they became scared of you. Anyway, the whole point of placing the Kyuubi's genes into your body was to prepare it for the sealing.**

"Sealing? What do you mean?"

**For some odd reason, Kami-sama commanded me to seal my nine bijuu into nine different mortals. But since they were full-blooded demons, a normal human would not be able to withstand the youki being forced into their body. So, the genes were placed into you to accustom you to your bijuu's power.**

"Wait! Nine?!" The boy exclaimed.

**Yes, nine. You are one of nine to be chosen. One for each bijuu, **the Shinigami said in what could have passed for an irritated voice. It was hard to read emotions from an immortal. **As I was saying, twelve years is the exact amount of time necessary to prepare one for the sealing of a bijuu. Since you have just turned twelve, now is the opportune moment to commence with the sealing.**

"But-but-but I don't want to get sealed with a demon!"

**Do not fear, there are more benefits to this than liabilities. For one, you will gain the bijuu's powers. Two, even if it was possible to reject this, you would still be hated. Three, all bijuu come with an automatic healing ability (as long as they have chakra, they can heal you). And four, your powers gained will become a kekkai genkai, although your descendants' will never be as strong as you are.**

"Alright then. I have one more question though. Is it possible for me to find or sense the other 8?" Naruto said.

**Yes. One way to tell who the other eight are is by focusing on sensing the specific youki of the bijuu (which is only possible if you are a specialist in tracking). The only other way is based on the number of tails your bijuu has. The Gobi can sense any bijuu with four tails or less, but no bijuu that has six tails or up. Luckily for you, this means that since you will have the Kyuubi sealed into you, you can sense any of the other eight when they get within a certain distance to you, but none of them can find you (unless you reveal your youki purposely of course). Now close your eyes, this might hurt a bit.**

-

A bloodcurling scream was let loose. It was a good thing that the building was relatively empty.

"A bit my ass!" Naruto growled. The pain was like nothing he had felt before. It was good thing he had such a high level of pain tolerance, or else the sudden pain would've killed him.

Naruto got up and prepared for his morning. He brushed his teeth, got dressed, ate two cups of some instant ramen, and then left for the academy.

_Flashback_

_"No." The lone word came from a young blond boy. The person he said it to happened to be the strongest ninja in the village; the Hokage._

_"What do you mean no? I thought you always wanted to be a ninja," the Sandaime said in a confused voice._

_"Yes that's true, but after living in this village for so long, I'd rather not become a ninja for them," he spat. _

_"I'm sorry, Naruto, but you know it's your father's wish. You know he wanted you to become a ninja and to love this village like he did."_

_"No, _I'm_ sorry, Sandaime-sama, but that's never going to happen. I refuse to go to the academy."_

_"Then please forgive me. I have no choice but to do this." Drawing himself up, the Hokage prepared for his small speech in his official voice. "Under the provisions of Amendment Nine, Paragraph Four, Line Three of the Konoha Consitution, you are hereby declared a ward of the state. Under the orders of the leader of this village, you are required to go to the academy." The Hokage visibly deflated, before continuing. "There, Naruto, now you have no choice but to attend."_

_"Fine," the boy ground out. He turned around sharply and walked out the door, missing the look the Sandaime shot at him._

_'I'm sorry, Naruto, but it's for your own good.'_

_It was a good thing that the Sandaime could not read young Naruto's mind, or else he would've regretted making the boy go to the ninja academy. 'Sure, I'll play along for the time being. I may go to the academy. I may become a ninja. I may serve the village. But the first chance I get, I'm leaving this shithole village and never coming back again. Unless I'm here to bring about its downfall of course.'_

_End Flashback_

The day passed as usual. Naruto would enter the classroom, and sit in a corner of the room at the back. Then two loud girls would enter screeching about sitting next to the Uchiha. After that, the instructor, Umino Iruka, would arrive and shout at them to be quiet. Following that, a long lecture would take place, forcing many students to fall asleep. Lunch came next, and everyone except Naruto rushed out. Naruto took his time going out. When the lunch bell rang, everyone would come back inside for another boring lecture on the history of Konoha. After another quick nap, everyone would spring up and leave the class as soon as the dismissal bell rang.

Now, Naruto was heading towards one of the training grounds, hoping to find a place where he would be able to discover his new powers. Once there, he immediately sat down to prepare to meditate.

Ten minutes passed before Naruto felt himself drifting off. Immediately his eyes opened and he looked around, finding a large cave.

"Where am I?" he wondered aloud. As soon as those words left his mouth, two red eyes appeared near the back of the cave.

**So you're my container...**

"Kyuubi-sama?" Naruto asked.

**Yes, it's me. It's really nice to see someone so young know how to use honorifics correctly**, the demon mused. **Now, I suppose you are here to find out how to use your newfound powers? Actually, don't answer that. Of course you're here for that. Now let's see...**

Naruto patiently sat and waited for the Kyuubi to finish.

**Ah of course. Give me a minute, ya brat.**

The Kyuubi then turned around at seemed to rummage through something. A minute passed before a satisfied grunt was heard. **Ah, found it. **Turning back around, the Kyuubi faced Naruto and seemed to stare straight through him. **Hey brat, I got some things for you. And before you get any smart ideas, I'm not giving you things because I like you. I'm giving you things because if my container was weak, it'd make _me _look weak, and I don't like that.**

"Of course, Kyuubi-sama."

**Good boy. Now, here. **The Kyuubi shoved what appeared to be a...violin? and some scrolls in his hand. **Alright, lemme explain the two things you inherit from me. The first is the elemental control over fire. With enough practice, you can create fire with a snap of your fingers; you can mold things from your fire; you can walk through fire without harm; any fire jutsu will come naturally easier to you; and the best part is, your human affinity is wind. When fire and wind jutsus are mixed together, mass destruction becomes child's play. All you have to do is spit out some fireballs and then follow it up with some wind, and the fireball will become a fire STORM! You might as well call yourself the god of fire. The scrolls in your hand are some jutsu scrolls I happen to have for wind and fire.  
**

**The second gift, while not as good as my first, is still pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. I'm a fox demon, and we are known to be tricksters; we are cunning, clever, and tricky. As a result we are naturally gifted in Genjutsu. A real fox demon could easily weave a Genjutsu over an entire village without them noticing. It's also impossible for a human to dispel our illusions (without the help of at least ten of your kage-level ninjas, of course). Unfortunately, you only get a portion of our skill in Genjutsu. For you, you must focus your chakra into an intermediary since your power is so uncontrolled, and through that intermediary the Genjutsu will be released. It also will be infinitely easier to dispel enemy Genjutsus by using that violin. Now, this violin here is probably the best intermediary for you to use to focus your chakra through. How to use it though, I'm afraid you're going to have to find that out by yourself.**

"Thank you very much," Naruto said in as much of a sincere voice as he could muster.

**Now go practice. **And with that final closing shot, Naruto jerked awake. He got up and stretched his muscles, before looking at the violin and bow.

Naruto decided to practice his affinity with fire and wind first, since he honestly had no idea to use the violin. Opening his fire scroll, his eyes widened at the sight of so many fire jutsus. In fact a small footnote at the bottom of the scroll read, "This is a list of all fire jutsus created up to this day." He quickly opened the wind scroll and showed his surprise again when the wind scroll was just as big. The same footnote was at the bottom of this second scroll.

Now Naruto was faced with a dilemma. What to practice first? Fire or wind? Naruto settled on an answer by closing the 2 scrolls, and then throwing it into the air. Whichever one landed in his hand would be the one he would practice first.

_Plop._

The fire scroll landed on his hand.

'_The fire scroll it is, then_,' he said in his mind. Opening up the scroll again, he looked at the first technique written in it.

"Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Great Fireball Technique). Interesting..."

The next hour was spent practicing the C rank fire technique. At first, it took about five tries just to get fire to come out of his mouth. At the end of the hour, Naruto decided that he finally mastered the technique.

'_Hmm...I expected that to take a lot longer to master a C rank...'_

**Didn't I tell you that you had control over fire? With my control over fire, the time needed for you to master a Katon techniques is reduced significantly.**

'_Ah! Kyuubi-sama?_'

**Obviously. What other voice would you have in your head?**

'_Forgive me Kyuubi-sama. I was...unprepared for that._'

**Right. Anyway, since you still take an hour just to master a weak technique, I'm thinking that I should give you another technique to study. This one I learned when the Bijuu were allowed to travel the lands. It's called Kage Bunshin. It will further reduce the time you need to practice a technique. You can also practice your chakra control this way.  
**

After learning the hand-seal and the benefits of this new technique, Naruto immediately employed it. Ten bunshins appeared. Each had their own scroll.

"Alright, you five go practice some chakra control, and you five practice the Katon: Housenka (Fire Release: Mythical Fire Phoenix) technique."

The real Naruto started to run laps around the field, since the Kyuubi had told him that the Kage Bunshin cannot be used to develop stamina or strength.

-

Five hours later, the sun was gone, and the moon was starting to appear. Naruto dispelled his clones. The rush of knowledge from the ten clones nearly knocked him out, but since he was already sitting, he merely fell into a deep sleep.

-

The next morning, Naruto woke up from a pleasant dream with a jerk.

'_Shit, it's morning already!'_

He quickly got up and headed home to take a shower and get some food.

When he finally made it to class, Iruka-sensei was just calling his name. "Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Here," he said in his best monotone voice.

Once roll call was finished, Iruka continued to lecture in the same manner as he always did. The day passed too slowly for Naruto's liking, but eventually the dismissal bell rang.

'_Finally,_' he mused. '_The academy is so boring. We don't learn anything except the history of Konoha (which I couldn't care less about) and how to throw kunai and shuriken (which I already know how to do)._' His thoughts on the dullness of the academy continued all the way to the training field he used yesterday. Once there, he opened the fire scroll again, and looked at what he would be learning today.

'_Well, I've learned all the C rank Katon techniques, and some B ranks. I'll finish up the B ranks, and then work on some A ranks._'

True to his word, Naruto's clones finished the B rank techniques and mastered one A rank, while the real one left the training ground to find a place to buy training weights and weapons. Ten minutes of wandering led him to a nondescript store that happened to have kunai in the store window. With a quick Henge, Naruto changed to a tall, brown-haired man with a long mustache. He walked into the store and went through the aisles of ninja accessories. After picking out several different weights, he started to head towards the counter to pay for his things, when an aisle of scrolls caught his eye. One labeled "Genjutsu Techniques for Dummies" especially caught his eye. He picked that up and added it to his things to purchase. He resumed his trek to the counter when a voice in his head popped up again.

**Hey ya brat, why don't you try looking for a weapon? **

Naruto immediately walked to the back of the store, where rows upon rows of all different kinds of weapons hung from the wall. He started to look through each one. Some he touched, and immediately replaced, since he got a weird feeling that it just didn't suit him. Just when he thought that there was nothing for him, he reached the last section of weapons. On the wall were several gauntlets. He picked one up, and this one gave off a feeling that it would work well for him, but it just wasn't _the one. _He put it back and picked up another one. This one gave the same feeling.

Naruto spent the next ten minutes trying different gauntlets on, when the shopkeeper, a big burly man with a thick mustache, walked up to him.

"Do you need any help sir? I see that you've been looking through my gauntlets for awhile."

"Yes. I just get this weird feeling that a gauntlet is the weapon for me, but none of THESE gauntlets," Naruto said in his disguised form.

"Well, I _do _have this one pair of gauntlets in the back. The owner gave it to me to repair quite some years back, but he died in a mission and never managed to pick it up. It is quite expensive though. Would you like to see it?"

"Yes," Naruto replied. Price was not a problem for Naruto. The Sandaime Hokage told him about his heritage when he was six, and started to periodically give him the money that was rightfully his. Of course, when the young six year old asked if he could live in his parents' house, the old man replied that it was destroyed in the Konoha-Iwa war. The only things that still remained of the Yondaime's legacy was his money, his scrolls, and his special kunai that was used with the Hiraishin no Jutsu. Unfortunately, the old man refused to give him the scrolls or kunai until he reached the age of sixteen.

The shopkeeper, a man named Higurashi Toto, led Naruto to the storehouse in the back of the store. After rummaging through several haphazardly thrown boxes around the room, he came back to Naruto and presented to him a set of blood red gauntlets.

"There are two modes for this gauntlet. The first one is battle mode, which includes several special qualities. For one thing, if you send your chakra into it, the blades will shoot out. The blades themselves are made from the darkest and strongest metal I have ever seen. It's called mythril. If only that man had told me who made this weapon...Anyway the blades are nigh indestructible, and they can pierce through even steel. They look so deadly..." The man paused here, and shuddered in pleasure. "Anyway, you have a total of six blades, which means that there are three blades on each gauntlet. Depending on how much chakra you send into the gauntlets, the number of blades that pop out vary. The smallest amount possible gives you one blade. A little more and you get two blades. A little more than that, and you get three blades. All together, you spend very little chakra to retract and extend the blades. The only bad thing is that you can't use handseals while in battle mode. With enough practice, you'll be able to switch between this mode and the other mode instantaneously.

"The other mode is civilian mode. The gauntlets turn into fancy blood red fingerless gloves made of silk. When you put chakra into the gloves during civilian mode, it activates a storing seal. It's a boon for ninjas, since you can store everything you need to carry in the seal when you have to leave for long term missions. And the best part of the storing seal is that it has been modified so that there is no limit to the number of things you can place in it! There are also more seals in the gloves, most of which don't have any active effect and are hidden. There's a comfort seal, which makes the gloves always extremely comfortable. It's also temperature regulated, so that the insides of the gloves never heat up. A cleaning seal is also attached, so that the gloves will stay clean. I haven't tested out all of them though, so you're going to be in for some more surprises.

"And that's not all. If you sprinkle a few drops of blood onto the seal, then the gauntlets will be bonded to you. It's not in the sense that it will magically gain a conscience or anything, but in the sense that only you will be able to utilize its special abilities. It also prevents anyone with harmful intent from removing them from your hand. This means that if you get captured on a mission, the enemy shinobi can't take off your gloves, and you can use the blades to cut yourself loose (if you're tied up). This is truly a wonderful weapon."

At the thought of all the great things about this gauntlet, Naruto knew he had to have it, "How much for it?" he asked.

"200,000 ryou." That was going to be put a dent in his savings.

"Well, I don't have that much money on me. However, if you give me a piece of paper, I can give you my account number so you can withdraw the money from the bank."

"Of course." Toto left Naruto for a minute to get the paper. While he was alone, Naruto marveled at the craftsmanship of this wonderful weapon. He slowly slipped it on to try out the properties, when a wonderful feeling overcame him.

'_This is the one. This is the gauntlet for me_,' he thought while staring at the seal on the back of the gauntlet. He focused some chakra into, and the thick gauntlet immediately started to shrink. The shrinking eventually stopped after a few seconds, and in its place was the blood red glove.

The storekeeper came back then, and handed a piece of paper and a pen to Naruto. Naruto graciously accepted it and wrote down his account number and his signature.

"Oh, I still have to find kunai, since I recently ran out," Naruto commented. "And I wish to purchase these things." He handed the weights and scroll to Toto, before moving back to the short knife section of the store. There he spent another ten minutes browsing through the daggers and knives. After picking out several sets of good quality kunai, he walked up to Toto, presenting to him the extra things he wished to purchase.

Toto rang up Naruto's things and changed the price of the IOU that Naruto had given him. Naruto signed it again to approve of the transaction, before thanking the man.

After leaving the weapon store, he headed straight towards the training field he was on before. Upon arriving, he immediately put his gloves on. After that, he placed his fire, wind, and genjutsu scrolls, his weights, and his violin into the seal on the back of the left glove. As soon as that was done, he added some more chakra into the gloves themself (not the seal), and the gloves turned into the gauntlets. Following that, he channeled a little bit of chakra into the gauntlets, and six blades, three on each gauntlet, slid out from its hidden hiding spot. He stopped for a minute to admire them.

**Stop standing there like a buffoon and go train yourself or something.**

The Kyuubi's voice once again startled him out of his admiration of his new gloves.

'_Of course, Kyuubi-sama._'

Naruto walked up to one of the trees in the training ground and prepared to try out his new gauntlets. Deciding that one blade first would be good, he retracted four blades so that only one was left on each gauntlet. Dashing past one of the trees, he slid his blade into the bark of the tree. What surprised him was the lack of resistance that met his blade when it went through the three. Turning around, he saw the tree fall to the ground with a loud crash. The remaining stump was so smooth...

Naruto grinned maliciously at this new revelation. His blades were now a force to be reckoned with.

"Alright, you guys go dispel yourselves." The clones then punched themselves in the face, and the result was a big headache for the blond. "Ugh..." he groaned.

As soon as the headache disappeared, he looked up into the sky. From the position of the sun, he estimated that the time was around six o'clock. The local library closed at nine, so he had three hours to read a ton of books. Before he left for the library though, he created fifty more clones. This left him a bit drained, but he didn't show it. "You twenty read the genjutsu scroll and practice using genjutsu with the violin. You ten go back to the fire scroll. You ten go run up trees and walk on water some more. And the rest of you (the last ten), practice using the blade to fight and switching between the two modes. I gave you enough chakra to last exactly four hours and ten minutes. Dispel one clone every ten or so seconds when four hours are up, got it?"

With a loud chorus of "Hai!", the clones set to work.

Naruto then left the training ground again to visit the library. He walked right past the librarian, who chose to ignore his presence. Naruto went straight towards the back of the library, where there was a large space for people to read their books. There he created another hundred clones. This time the drainage of the technique left him gasping for breath. It took him a minute to catch his breath.

"Alright, I want each of you Henge into a different person and grab a book. Keep reading until it's nine. When the time is up, dispel one clone every ten or so seconds."

The hundred clones immediately left the reading area into the shelves of books.

After that, he decided that he could probably create only a few more clones; a maximum of ten. '_So my limit is 150 clones at one time...I'm going to have to work on that._'

Following that, Naruto left the library and headed towards his house, where he planned on storing some things into his gloves so that he will always have emergency supplies on him.

Upon entering the apartment he lived in, he headed straight for the closet in his room. There he pulled out two identical shinobi outifts. '_Which hand should I put it in?_' he asked himself. '_Alright, how about this. My left hand is for my weapons and things I need for training. My right hand will be everything else._'

Since he was expecting to fit a lot of things in each hand, it worked out fine. Naruto picked up the two shinobi outfits and stored them into his right hand. Then he went to his small living room, where he found some scrolls and a pen.

'_I should probably store that too, in case I'm ever in trouble and need to send a message._' Sealing that into his right hand too, he then headed towards the kitchen. He rummaged through the cabinets and pulled out some instant ramen. '_It's good for emergency food, I suppose._' Naruto stored the food into his right hand. '_Now I need something to boil the water in...Ah! That kettle'll work. I might as well get some utensils and other pots and pans while I'm at it._' He quickly pulled all the mentioned things out of the cabinets and stored them into his right hand, before deciding that was enough. '_Now what to do? I guess I should start using my weights._"

Naruto unsealed his weights from his left hand and strapped them on. Five pounds on each wrist and ten pounds on each ankle. After taking a few minutes to adjust, Naruto started his slow trek back to the training ground. It took him twenty five minutes, fifteen minutes longer than usual, but he did make it. He took another five minute break, before starting to slowly jog around the field while watching his clones practice their assigned job.

Nine o'clock came, and he started to receive small bits of information, from tips on cooking to a how-to book of doing origami, to a book on legendary shinobi.

'_Another hour until these clones dispel,_' he thought.

Naruto upped his pace from a slow jog to quick dashes around the field, although he had to take many more breaks now. Deciding that he had enough, he told the clones to start the dispelling now, rather than in thirty minutes. He felt much more powerful from all the training he did (which equaled about 190 hours; ten clones training for four hours and fifty clones training for three hours).

"It's time to go to sleep. I got to go back to the academy tomorrow, and we all know how much fun that'll be. Hey! Maybe I can send a kage bunshin to class!" Naruto said to himself.

-

Four months later, after having completely mastered the fire jutsus up to A rank, getting a basic understanding of S rank fire jutsus, mastering all the C and B rank wind jutsus, and becoming familiar with the arts of using genjutsu through a violin, Naruto was once again interrupted by his life-long companion.

**Hey brat.**

'_Kyuubi-sama! What a pleasant surprise. It has been quite some time since you've last spoken to me. I believe your last words were something along the lines of "Stop standing there like a buffon and go train yourself". What do you require of me this time?_

**Well after watching you practice, I've decided that you are almost a master at controlling fire. You just need some experience using those jutsus in combat and finish mastering the S rank techniques to call yourself a true God of Fire. Therefore, your ninjutsu is at a pretty high level. Your genjutsu is at a passing level, as you still have only mastered a few useful genjutsus. However, your taijutsu is like watching a drunk civilian fight. Your movement is unrefined, although fast. Your attacks are stiff and easily predicted, although strong. Because of this, I'm willing to give you another scroll. This one is a taijutsu style for people who use claws, and it's called the Tsume Kuracchi style (the Claw Clutch style). Basically, this is probably the best taijutsu style for one like you. Here, we need to see each other face to face for this to work.**

A sharp tug and Naruto's world immediately went black. When his eyes opened, he was once again standing in the cave that signified Kyuubi's place. The Kyuubi's back, however, was facing Naruto, and he could see the great nine tailed fox searching for something in its large pile of treasures. The fox then turned around again, and threw a scroll at Naruto, whose hand immediately shot up to catch it.

**There. Study this, and your taijutsu should get a lot better. Now begone from my sight.**

As soon as Naruto disappeared, the Kyuubi's voice could be heard, echoing throughout the cave.

**Yes, this one is strong. He will bring much respect and fear to my name. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

-

"Ugh, now I have to incorporate learning a new style of taijutsu into my schedule. Hmmm...well I can keep a total of 400 kage bunshin at one time, since each time one is dispelled, both its knowledge and the chakra used to make it are returned to me. I have one that goes to school, one that is still at the library (Naruto quickly stopped sending 100 clones to the library, as that caused way too many headaches, despite being dispelled with an interval), one that's getting violin lessons from a music teacher under a Henge, one that acts as a housekeeper, and one that I use as a guard for my home. So I have 395 clones remaining. How should I divide them up? I know! I'll divide them into five equal groups, with seventy nine clones in each group. One group will practice the Fuuton jutsu, the second group will practice and create genjutsu techniques, the third group will work on expanding my chakra reserves, the fourth group will practice this new taijutsu style, and the last group will practice manipulating the fire and creating new techniques so that it becomes second nature to me."

After splitting up the jobs to the massive amount of clones, Naruto left to grab some lunch at Ichiraku's. As he made his way through the streets, he passed by a dango store, where a certain purple-haired snake mistress caught his eye. Now, this wasn't the first time he saw her, but this was definitely the first time he was so close to her.

'_Hmmm...that youki. She's one too! I've seen her around before, but I never expected her to be one too! Kyuubi-sama, are you awake?_'

Silence was the Kyuubi's reply.

'_Kyuubi-sama?_'

**What you damned brat? I was so enjoying my nap...Sigh...**

'_Can you tell me whose youki that is? I know she is a jinchuuriki too, but I'm not experienced enough to recognize which bijuu she holds.'_

**Hmph. It's the Hachibi no Hachimata. That's the eight-tailed snake.**

'_Thank you for the assistance, Kyuubi-sama._'

Finishing his mental conversation with the bijuu that was sealed in him, he calmly walked up to the purple-haired woman's table and beckoned the nearby waitress over.

"Please give me a plate of dango."

The woman, although uncomfortable with his presence, merely nodded and left to bring him his food.

"Hey, pipsqueak, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Hello, Hachibi-san."

'_Well, fuck,_' the woman thought.

-

This was not a good day for one Mitarashi Anko. She had woken up, gotten dressed (if you could call what she wore "dressing"), did her morning rituals, and then left to the Torture and Investigation department, where she worked under Morino Ibiki. However, just as she was about to enter the place, her old curse seal started to act up.

Her sensei Orochimaru gave her the curse seal back when she was ten, before she got the Hachibi sealed into her. It hurt like hell, and she nearly died because of it. When she turned twelve, the curse seal's harmful effects were immediately purged from her body, although a small amount of the evil chakra and the tattoo itself remained. Nowadays, the tattoo would randomly act up and give her bouts of pain, which was very dangerous for one in her profession. A mere moment's worth of hesitation would be enough for any skilled enemy to kill her. And boy, she had a lot of enemies.

After the pain subsided, rather than go to work, she decided to go train some more, as it usually took her mind off her want for revenge against her old sensei, who had abandoned her the moment he found out that she could no longer access the seal's effects. When she arrived at her favorite training place, the Forest of Death, she noticed that it was "under construction". That pissed her off a lot, since well, who the fuck would want to build something in the Forest of Death?!

Following that, she decided a plate of dango would do her good, and when she finally started to enjoy her peace, some snot-nosed blond brat decided that he was brave enough to sit with her! Her! Mitarashi Anko!

But that's not the worst part. The worst part is, the boy merely greeted here with three words, which scared the fuck out of her.

"Hello, Hachibi-san."

Her only thoughts were '_Well, fuck_.'

-

After having opened up the conversation with three words, Naruto sat back to see how the woman would react. And boy, react she did.

"How the _fuck _did you know that?" she whispered angrily, with a kunai in each hand. Only one person knew her secret, and that was her best friend. She knew her best friend wouldn't have told him, since she knew her dark secret too. They even swore a blood pact that they would be never reveal each other's secret to an outsider. There was no possible way for someone to have caught her training with the Hachibi's youki, since she always made sure no one was around.

"Don't make me repeat myself. How the fuck did you know that?" Her voice was laced with a lot of killing intent and a little bit of...fear?

"I got a little tingle in my head," he replied.

Her kunai dug into his skin. "Stop fooling around you little brat, or I'll gut you. How do you know my secret?" she asked once more, this time enunciating each word.

"He didn't tell you?"

"Who tell me what?"

"Shinigami-sama. Didn't he tell you about how fellow containers could sense each other?"

Anko's blood ran cold at that. '_How did he know about Shinigami-sama? Perhaps he is one too?_'

"No! If that's true, then I'd be able to feel you too!" Anko muttered back.

"Yeah, that's the funny part," he stated. His voice was still calm, despite the fact that their was a kunai piercing his neck. It wasn't deep enough to be harmful or anything; it was just a little prick. "Shinigami-sama said that you can only sense the youki of someone who has less tails than you."

Anko's mind stopped at this revelation. "T-this means...You're Kyuubi?"

Naruto chuckled darkly. "Yeah that's me. Now, do you mind removing that kunai from my neck? Even though it doesn't hurt, it's still quite bothersome..."

"Why? I like blood," she commented, before reluctantly removing the kunai from his neck. The small wound immediately started to close up.

"I do too, but you don't see me walking with a kunai in my hand every time someone looks at me funny. Now how about you introduce yourself? I'm Uzumaki Naruto, age twelve (I got my sealing a few months ago), and I'm a genin."

Anko answered, "I'm Mitarashi Anko, age seventeen, Chuunin rank."

The waitress then came back with his order. "Ah, well, it was nice meeting you. I'm a busy person, and my lunch has arrived. I have to train, you know? Bye!" And with that, Naruto left the dango shop.

'_I better go find her. She's going to want to know that I met the Kyuubi kid._'

-

After leaving the dango shop with his food, Naruto hurried back to his training ground and sat down at the bottom of a tree while watching his clones work. He quickly finished his food before pointing at one of the clones in the group that was practicing the Tsume Kuracchi.

"You! Dispel yourself!"

The clone immediately complied, and with a puff of smoke, the clone was gone. The real Naruto received the information the clone had learned about the style, and then decided to practice it a bit himself. After all, it wouldn't do to go into battle without actually having used it himself. He quickly finished going over everything the clone had provided, and performed a few katas before deeming that he now had a basic understanding about the style, even though he wasn't too good at it yet.

When that happened, he set out to practice using all of the stuff he learned already from past clones. Naruto walked to a side area, a little bit farther away from the clones, and started to use all of the Katon jutsus he knew once, before moving onto the Fuuton jutsus and the genjutsus.

"Alright, now I just need some real battle experience. But where to get some?"

Naruto looked around himself in deep thought, before a simple thought came to him. '_The clones of course!'_

Walking back to the original training field, he pointed at one clone from four of the groups (the only one he didn't pick a clone from was the group practicing his new taijutsu style), and dispelled them. Again, he took some time to assimilate all the information he received, before replacing them with five new clones.

"Alright, I want each of you to attack me, but you can only use specific moves. The five of you will decide who does taijutsu only (taijutsu-clone), who does genjutsu only (genjutsu-clone), who uses Katon jutsu only (fire-clone), who does Fuuton jutsu only (wind-clone), and the last one will use anything he wants (omni-clone). Understand?" Naruto received five nods, before sending them off to discuss who does what. Before they left, he yelled, "You have five minutes! Either come to me, or I'll come to you when those five minutes are done!"

The clones then departed. Five minutes later, Naruto stood back up and dusted his pants off. He took his time walking through the wooded area where his clones had passed through. Within a minute, one of the clones got impatient and jumped down to where he was, blocking the path.

"I wonder which clone you are," Naruto commented offhandedly to himself, literally. His reply was a stoic look and a Katon: Goukaykyuu.

Naruto immediately batted the flames to the side effortlessly, seeing as how the fire technique _was _fire, and it was a mere C rank attack. The clone, seeing as how that did not work, disappeared back into the foilage. Naruto continued on, eyes alert and scanning the forest for any signs of movement. Off in the distance, he could hear his original clones still practicing their assigned job.

_Crack!_

Naruto spun around right away at the sound of a branch cracking and saw another clone. He was again, unsure of which clone it was. Then a second clone stepped out.

"Katon: Goukakyuu!"

"Again?" Naruto asked.

Unfortunately, the second clone then used its own jutsu. "Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!"

The wind, combined with the flames, immediately created an extremely large flame, much too large for Naruto to just bat away. Instead, he chose to leap to the side. The flames just barely missed him, and Naruto sighed at this revelation. "Well, fire and wind makes big fire..."

He turned to face the two clones, only to find them gone again. His reprieve, however, was quickly over when he heard the whooshing of something approaching him from behind. His instincts told him to duck, and he did as he was told. His gauntlets, which were currently in its glove form, immediately switched to battle-mode, and Naruto threw his leg out at an attempt to leg sweep the clone behind him. The taijutsu clone responded by jumping over the leg and bringing its own gauntlets down to try to smash into Naruto.

There was a poof of smoke, and the branch that was hit was destroyed at once. The clone turned around and blocked the incoming punch from the gauntlet, and followed it up with a kick to the stomach. Naruto, seeing his surprise attack fail, leapt back and sent a minuscule amount of chakra into his palms. The chakra was released and poured into the gauntlet, where the six mythril blades erupted. Each blade looked extra shiny today, even though Naruto hadn't yet done anything to it to give it such a shine.

While Naruto put chakra into the gauntlets to get the blades out, the clone was doing the same thing. Now both sported six blades protruding from their gauntlets. Both the real and the fake Naruto then charged again. Right before the two hit, Naruto used a quick Kawarimi, and appeared behind the clone...again. His fist shot out, and smashed right into the back of the clone.

Or at least, that's what Naruto thought had happened. His fist went straight through the clone, and he felt six small pricks on his back.

He groaned in his head. '_God damn, I fell for a genjutsu._' He flared his chakra a bit, and the genjutsu immediately collapsed. He turned his head around a little and saw the taijutsu-clone standing behind him with his hand extended, pointing at Naruto's back.

"Nice one, but it's not over," Naruto told the clone.

He leapt forward just as the clone pressed the blades down, to try to actually make the blades sink into his skin. Naruto's unexpected leap forward sent the clone out of balance, and Naruto appeared behind it. A quick stab at the head and the clone disappeared.

"One down, four to go."

When Naruto looked up again, the remaining four were standing in front of him. "All at once then?" he asked.

One clone shot forward, blades extended, intending to sink them into his skin; this was the omni-clone, since the first one already used taijutsu. Two followed up, each flashing through the hand signs of the previous C rank combo. The last one stood at the back, also flashing through hand signs.

Naruto sighed. '_My clones don't seem that smart after all._' It was obvious that the clone at the back was the biggest threat at the moment, and the two ninjutsu clones were pretty redundant. '_Well I guess it's my fault for not giving them enough chakra to do any techniques over a C rank or do fire jutsus without hand signs..._'

Using chakra-enhanced speed, Naruto sidestepped the charging clone and complete bypassed the two ninjutsu-clones. He ran straight for the genjutsu-clone, and pulled a spare kunai from a pouch from his hip. However, since his gauntlets were a bit bulky, it made throwing a kunai a little awkward. This was evidenced by the fact that the kunai had not struck the genjutsu-clone in the heart, as Naruto had intended, but had struck a glancing blow to the clone's side. This was still enough to dispel it though, thankfully.

His instincts once again rang out at him to jump, so he did so. It was good thing too, or else his clone would have struck him on the back of the head with the pointy blades. '_I wonder if Kyuubi-sama can fix that. Best not to find out._'

His jump had led him to land on a thick branch on one of the trees, and he turned around to face the clones on the ground. There he saw what he presumed to be the fire-clone going through a quick motion of hand signs, and guessed its intention. It was going to burn the tree he was in. Considering that he was in a _forest_, this was not a good idea.

'_Alright, next target, fire-clone._'

He leapt off the tree straight at the fire-clone. Right before he was about to strike it, the omni-clone appeared and blocked his attack with both hands in an X-shaped fashion.

Seeing as how the omni-clone's hands were both "tied up", Naruto wound his other fist back, and punched as hard as he could, breaking through the X guard, and knocking both it and the fire-clone down. Before they had a chance to react, Naruto swung his fist down and struck them both, causing the two clones to dispel.

Now it was just a one-on-one fight.

Quickly changing his gauntlets back to civilian modes, he then summoned his violin. After all the practices with his genjutsu and violin, Naruto had figured out that the weaker genjutsus he could do without handseals and without a violin, but the more difficult ones required the violin to act as a mediator, as to force the chakra into the instrument, whcih would then convert the chakra into the genjutsu the user wanted.

Naruto started to play a haunting song, one that would fit perfectly with a movie that depicted something bad about to happen to the main character, while the wind-clone released a powerful gust of wind, clearly hoping to disrupt Naruto's playing. Once again, Naruto proved to be victorious.

"Magen: Jigoku Gouka no Jutsu (Demon Illusion: Hellfire Technique)," he whispered. The clone immediately dropped the gust of wind and began to scream while waving its arms around as if on fire. Naruto, looking for a quick win, had an on-the-spot idea. The clone was too far away to attack (and it was swinging its arms around wildly) and he only had his violin and bow out. Thus his idea came to him when he spotted a sharp stick on the ground. He slung the violin onto his back, using its strap, so it would not fall off. Then he took the violin's bow and quickly loosened the string, forming a makeshift bow for arrows. Clearly the stick was to be the arrow.

Naruto notched the stick to the bow and pulled back, before releasing it. He manipulated the wind around the stick so that it flew true, and dispelled the wind-clone.

He was in awe of the idea he had. No one would ever expect him to be able to use a violin bow as a bow for archery. Although he knew he was low on chakra, he summoned one clone and told it to pull out a piece of paper and a pen, and to write down this new idea and to expand on it.

The clone immediately set to work, while Naruto headed back to the clearing where all the clones were _still _practicing. He sat himself down on the tree where he had eaten his dango earlier today and quickly fell asleep.

-

Two ocean blue opened and blinked as the sight of the moon up in the sky hit him.

"Whoa how long have I been here?" he asked.

Looking around he saw that all the clones were gone. He figured that he slept for three or so hours, before the clones dispelled themselves. This meant that the fight was around two hours long. It was almost nine, and he considered going straight home, but then the sound of a rumbling stomach told him that food was more important right now. He quickly Henged himself into one of his many personas, one of a middle-aged man with no special features that would make him stand out, and hurried to one of the restaurants in the nearby vicinity. Even though no one would've bravely kicked him out of their shop, it made everyone present uncomfortable, thus leading him to use a disguise every time he ate at a public restaurant.

This time, he went to one of the middle-classed restaurants, owned by the Akimichi, popular for its all-you-can-eat buffet. He quickly went in and was seated at a table. He ordered a drink before heading off to the food. There he spotted Anko and a black-haired lady, standing in front of a plate of dango. He walked closer to them, and stood a few plates down in front of the rice. He gathered a bit and placed it onto his own plate.

"-won't believe what happened to me earlier today. I met Kyuubi!"

"Really?" the black-haired woman asked in surprise.

"Yeah, turns out that he just turned twelve several months ago and received his sealing then," Anko replied to her friend.

Upon hearing that, Naruto's eyes shot up. For Anko to reveal his secret like that, when she shared the same one, it would have to mean that her friend was one too, or that she was a close confidant. Naruto was heading towards the former, and to find out, he focused on her chakra, and sensed the youki of one of the nine bijuu within her.

'_Huh! So she _is _one!_' Aiming his next thought at the great kitsune sealed inside of him, he thought, '_Kyuubi-sama?_'

**It's the Gobi no Houkou,** Kyuubi growled without waiting for Naruto's question. **Stupid dogs. I hate dogs.**

Naruto's response was a sweatdrop. '_The great Kyuubi-sama gets worked up at the mention of a dog. How entertaining._'

**...Shut your mouth mortal. And I meant that the Gobi is a dog demon. All dog demons suck! In fact...  
**

Naruto then tuned the rest of Kyuubi's rant about dogs out, as he walked over to the two ladies.

The two aforementioned ladies immediately stopped talking when they saw the man approach. Anko, being her usual insane, bloodlusting self, turned towards the newcomer with a creepy grin and a kunai aimed at man's best friend. And there weren't any dogs around.

"Can I help you?" Anko asked, her scary grin still in place.

Naruto, in his Henge, paused to think. "I think you can. Perhaps you can introduce me to your friend Gobi-san."

Anko's eyes predictably widened. "Oh! Naruto-kun!" She paused before cheerfully waving her hand at the black-haired woman standing beside her. "This is Nai-chan!"

The only sign that Naruto showed that he heard her added suffix was a twitch to the eyebrow.

"I'm actually Yuuhi Kurenai, Chuunin," she said, her manners taking over, before continuing. "But how'd you know that about me?" she exclaimed in surprise.

Naruto's eyes swiveled to Anko, who shrugged in response. "I don't really get it myself," she said.

Naruto sighed. The three of them piled the food onto their plates and headed towards Anko and Kurenai's table. He took his time retelling what Shinigami-sama had told him the day they met while he enjoyed his dinner, still under the guise of a middle-aged man. Once their dinner was finished, Naruto and the two ladies separated; Naruto to go home to sleep, and the two ladies to go gossip or whatever kunoichi did when in the company of another kunoichi.

Halfway down the street, Naruto turned back around. He was no longer in his Henged form, since dinner was already over. "Kurenai-san!" he called.

One of the two figures in the distance turned around. "Yes?" she asked.

"Do you think you can make some time to tutor me in genjutsu tomorrow? I heard that you were the genjutsu mistress of Konoha."

Kurenai paused to think for a moment. "Sure. Meet me at Training Field 14 tomorrow at 3 in the afternoon."

Naruto called back his thanks before turning back and walking home.

-

The next day, Naruto woke up extra early so he could get a head start on training. He did his morning rituals before heading towards the training field he used yesterday. He made the standard five groups and divided them up again to do the same thing they did yesterday. After his normal routine was established, he decided he wouldn't send a clone to school today. He didn't have anything else he wanted to do, and if the class was just going to do lectures again, he would go back to sleep.

Luckily, he chose to go to school on a good day. The moment roll call was finished, the teacher, a Chuunin named Umino Iruka, decided that today would be a good day for practicing the practical part of being a ninja.

"Alright class, we're going outside today to spar and to throw projectiles. The spar will be in a tournament form, so whoever wins will get this scroll for Doton techniques, and whoever does the best at kunai and shuriken throwing will get this Suiton scroll."

Several students perked up at this announcement; namely, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto. Several observant Uchiha-fangirls also perked at this, since they realized that this was a chance for them to earn the everlasting love of the great Uchiha Sasuke so that they could give him the scroll if they won (which we all know is impossible; after all, fangirl philosophy says that the great Uchiha Sasuke could _never _be beaten). For the Uchiha himself, this was a chance to gain some more power on his quest to defeat his older brother, who had killed off the entire Uchiha family, bar Sasuke. For Naruto, this was a chance to learn a few Doton and Suiton moves, since his arsenal of jutsu was composed of only Katon and Fuuton techniques.

Naruto silently followed the rest of the class outside, his stoic and cold persona up. On the inside, he was thinking, '_This could be a good chance to test my Tsume Kuracchi style on real people. Of course, I can't show off _too _much._'

Once at the academy training field, Iruka announced that they would start with the projectile throwing first. He called up the students one by one in alphabetical order to throw ten kunai and ten shuriken, and Mizuki, the assistant teacher would check the targets to determine their score. The closer they got to the bullseye, the more points they would score. The highest score possible for each portion was a hundred, so this meant that each bullseye was worth ten points.

When the Uchiha got up, all the girls (save one inconspicuous girl) cheered their heart out for "Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke, annoyed by all the weak fangirls, stalked to the line, and took the ten kunai handed to him from Iruka. He put four down on the table next to him, but kept six in his hands. Three kunai would slip in between his fingers on each hand, so that he looked a little bit like Naruto when Naruto had his blades out. Sasuke took a deep breath and released the six kunai. The two targets were each hit three times by the kunai, all in the bullseye.

"60 points so far," Mizuki announced.

Sasuke then took the remaining four (two on each hand), and took a step back, so that he could do a dramatic finish. Just as he released the kunai, an extra loud shriek was heard by his "number one fan," the big forehead girl Sakura. Unfortunately for the duck-haired avenger, the shrill shriek of the banshee startled him out of his concentration. As a result, one kunai missed the bullseye and hit the circle that encircled the bullseye. He winced. That shriek really hurt his ears and affected his score. Ah well, he still got a 98 on the kunai portion. It's not like anyone else was going to beat it, right?

His shuriken portion went as expected. He hit ten out of ten bullseyes, so his total score was a 198. His smug smirk only widened at that. No one could possibly beat him. After all, he was an Uchiha, and Uchihas always come out on top.

Next up was the class mute (not counting Shino, who actually did speak up occasionally to his peers and offered wise pieces of advice; Naruto would ignore all the other students, and never raised his hand in class so that the teachers never called on him). Without even looking at Iruka, Naruto grabbed eight of the ten kunai and threw them.

_Fwip. _(sound effect of kunai hitting target)

Only one kunai hit the bullsye where the heart would be. Even some of Sasuke's fangirls hit more than one bullseye.

The brash Inuzuka boy immediately laughed at Naruto. "Is that it? Even Sasuke's weak fangirls did better than that! Oh man, you must really suck!"

Iruka stared at the targets for a second before noticing something weird about them. Walking up, he noticed where each of the eight kunai were located. What he noticed surprised him. That kid was good. "Actually," he interrupted Kiba's taunt, "Naruto here hit each of the eight killing spots: the throat, the spinal column, the lungs, the liver, the jugular vein, the sub-clavier artery, the kidney, and the heart. If you are hit in any of these spots, it would count as an instant death. Because of this, I'll give Naruto a 98. You lose two points for not following directions, but it was still a very nice throw." This shut Kiba up immediately.

The other two kunai lay forgotten as Naruto picked up his ten shuriken, and this time, all hit the bullseyes.

"All of them are perfect," Mizuki reported.

"In that case, we have two winners. I'll make a second copy of the Suiton scroll and give it to you at the end of class."

After that, Iruka decided it was time for the tournament. The scarred Chuunin explained the rules of the tournament. "I will split you into groups of two. Each group will spar one at a time, while Mizuki and I judge. The winner (and to win, your opponent must be knocked out or concede) will move onto the next round and fight the winner of the previous battle. Whoever wins the entire tournament will get the Doton scroll."

Iruka then split the students up. "Alright, let's start the tournament!"

-

An hour later, there were only two combatants left. One was Uchiha Sasuke, who beat everyone through the use of several flashy Katon jutsu and by using his clan's taijutsu style. The other winner was Uzumaki Naruto (to be expected of course), who had won using what could be described only as a fierce and animalistic style of taijutsu. There were a few times where his attacks would miss by a little bit, or he would stumble a little, before regaining his balance. The two teachers of course had spotted that and were wondering what had caused those deficiencies in what could've been an extremely successful taijutsu style.

"Alright, the final round. Uchiha Sasuke versus Uzumaki Naruto. Begin!" The crowd gasped as Mizuki dropped his hand in a signal to begin. What they saw though, was that neither combatant had moved.

"You're not bad, Uchiha, but you're not that good either," Naruto commented offhandedly.

"Shut up," Sasuke snarled back angrily. He'd show that good-for-nothing.

"Then why don't you try and hit me, Sasuke-_chan_?"

Both Iruka and Mizuki stifled a snicker at this, as neither liked the arrogant Uchiha too much. Of course, some of the boys in their class wasn't prone to subtleties. They were outright laughing at Naruto's use of the -chan suffix for Sasuke.

Ignoring the indignant shouts from the fangirls for him to beat the silent kid up, Sasuke chose to totally crush and humiliate that blonde idiot for that slight against him.

His hands moved through several handseals, which Naruto immediately recognized as the handseals for a Katon: Goukakyuu. Rather than jump away, Naruto just stood there. The girls, watching him stare silently at the oncoming fire, screamed, since they believed they just witnessed the death of a fellow classmate, no matter how much they disliked him. When the fire died down, all present were shocked to see Naruto stand there, as if bored with the entire ordeal.

"Is that it?" he asked with a yawn. "Allow me to show you a _real _fire jutsu." Without even using handseals, he announced his attack. "Katon: Goukakyuu."

The spectators looked on curiously. A "real" fire jutsu? And as soon as the fire left his mouth, they understood what he meant. Sasuke's flames were the size of a spread-out fan. Naruto's on the other hand, was the size of a horse, and in fact, actually took the shape of a horse! The fire horse neighed and charged straight at Sasuke, who quickly dodged to the left. Unfortunately, he dodged right into a left knee in the face, courtesy of Naruto.

The Uchiha flew back several feet and skidded another few feet. His fangirls screamed when they saw their Sasuke-kun get hit in the face, and some even fainted! Sasuke, however, slowly stood back up, his eyes burning with hate. Without warning, he suddenly ran forward, kunai in hand, and jumped. The kunai sunk right into the blond's skin, and he yelled in triumph.

Too bad for him that his victory call was interrupted when the stabbed blond disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke immediately fell to the ground and stumbled, since he was leaning on the aforementioned blond, who was no longer there to support his weight. He quickly spun back around only to see Naruto standing there calmly, once again looking as if he was bored with this fight.

Sasuke let loose a growl as he saw the flippant way Naruto was dealing with him. He would not stand for such a mockery of his skills.

"Katon: Housenka!"

Several fireballs streaked straight towards Naruto. Naruto, in response, waved his hand at the fire and they all died down, revealing the shuriken hidden within them.

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw the shuriken. He didn't think that Sasuke knew how to do that. '_I guess I underestimated him._'

He quickly ducked to avoid two of the four shuriken and caught another in his hand. However the last one grazed his cheek, and blood immediately spouted from the minor wound. Naruto calmly wiped the blood off his cheek, before commenting, "That was impressive. Just because I think you are a worthy opponent, I'll play a little bit more serious this time.

The girls were pissed. Some nobody was insulting their Sasuke-kun! The boys, on the other hand, were stunned. The class mute actually spoke! More than once! AND he insinuated that his already-impressive skills were actually just him playing around!

Naruto bent down and removed several weights from his ankles, followed by the weights around his wrists. "It's been a long time..." he sighed wistfully. This was the first time that Naruto had taken off his weights since getting them several months back, except for when he was in the shower or when he slept. He proceeded to place them almost lovingly in a pile off to the side. "One more time, Sasuke-chan."

Falling to his anger again, Sasuke charged right towards Naruto.

_Wham!_

Sasuke's entire world went black, as he saw the figure in front of him disappear, only to feel a blinding pain in his stomach and in his jaw.

-

When Sasuke charged at Naruto again, the crowd collectively sucked in a breath. It was only let out in gasps of surprise when the blond boy disappeared, only to reappear less than a foot away from the charging Uchiha. What was even more surprising was the two quick punches from Naruto, which even the two Chuunins had trouble spotting.

Iruka could only spot a flash of red as Naruto buried his fist into Sasuke's stomach, and a second blur of red. Where the second blur hit was apparent, when Sasuke flew sideways and landed on the ground with a large fist imprint on his jaw.

"You are weak," Naruto spat spitefully, ignoring the screams of Sasuke's fangirls on the sidelines.

Brushing off a piece of imaginary dirt on his shoulder, Naruto continued, "If you were not so caught up on getting power for power's sake, you could be stronger. If you could be less arrogant, or act like you don't have a fucking stick shoved up your ass, you could be stronger. You try to steal other people's skills, you demand people to teach you things...I pity you, Uchiha Sasuke, because at this rate, you will never defeat your brother."

Turning back around, Naruto stared expectantly at Iruka. "R-right," Iruka said shakily, "the winner of the tournament is Uzumaki Naruto. Here Naruto-kun, this is your Doton scroll for the tournament, and this is the Suiton scroll for the projectile throwing. I'll make another copy of the Suiton scroll for Sasuke-kun later when he wakes up. Class is dismissed."

Naruto calmly took the two scrolls from Iruka and walked off silently. The rest of the students left in groups, either to gossip about what they just saw, or to just hang out together.

-

Uchiha Sasuke, the lone avenger of Konoha, stared up at the sky. He had just received a crushing defeat from some los- no, from someone stronger than him. Someone he could respect. Of course, he was also envious about the boy's power, but he would never admit that...yet. When he heard the Uzumaki kid rant at him, he was stunned. What he said rang true in his mind, and Sasuke was ashamed that he was so arrogant.

He vowed that he would one day surpass Naruto, and he would do so by his own means.

Getting up, Sasuke gratefully took the Doton scroll from Iruka and limped home.

-

Naruto strode to "his" training field after Iruka dismissed them. He noticed that he had about 30 minutes until he had to go meet Kurenai on Training Field 14. He took this time to redistribute the number of clones into seven unequal groups to add in the two new scrolls to his training regimen.

After everything settled down, Naruto headed towards Training Field 14, only to find it empty. He looked up at the sky, and the position of the sun told him it was indeed three o'clock. He glanced around the surrounding area, only to find nothing. Sitting down at the base of one of the trees nearby, he prepared to take a quick nap when his instincts told him that was something was...missing. Or wrong. He quickly gave a cursory glance around again, yet still found nothing wrong. The feeling got stronger, before his eyes widened.

He hastily flared his chakra, and the genjutsu faded away to show Kurenai standing in the center of the field with her hands in a hand seal, with Anko standing next to her, arms draped around Kurenai's shapely waist.

"Took you long enough, ya brat," the purple-haired chuunin remarked cheerfully. Naruto's eyes widened, and it was only through extreme mental control that his nose did not explode with a fountain of blood from the surprisingly erotic image. However stoic and cold he may be, he was still a boy coming into the joys of puberty.

"Oh don't mind her, Naruto," Kurenai reassured kindly. "It was a good attempt for an academy student. You see, genjutsus work-"

"Excuse me, Kurenai-sensei, but I already know how to do genjutsus and how they work. I just need practice performing the harder genjutsus with hand seals. Because I have so much chakra (so much, in fact, that I have more chakra than you two and the other six like us have combined), I need a medium to send my chakra through to do the more complex genjutsu. My medium happens to be this violin." And with that, he sent some chakra into his civilian-mode gloves and the violin and bow popped out. "Allow me to demonstrate. Kage Bunshin!"

One Kage Bunshin appeared in a poof of smoke and looked curiously at the original Naruto. "Stand there. I'm going to perform a genjutsu on you," the original commanded the clone.

"Magen: Jigoku-"

"Wait!" Anko interrupted loudly.

Sighing, Naruto towards the sadistic chuunin before he irritatedly asked "What?"

"When'd you learn the Kage Bunshin?! That's an A-rank technique for jounins!"

"Kyuubi-sama taught me it when he deemed my training was not moving along fast enough," Naruto retorted.

Anko shouted in indignation, "What?! Your bijuu actually helps you?!" Poking the seal on her right shoulder, she shouted, "Hear that? You stupid overgrown snake! How come the Kyuubi teaches his container stuff and you don't teach ME anything?"

A brief pause came over Anko, before she yelled to her own shoulder, "Hey! Stop ignoring me you stupid...Argh!" Throwing her hands up in the air, Anko muttered quietly to herself, "I'm going to make this wonderful snake skin purse out of you one day..."

Kurenai, who had been listening on Anko's rant to her bijuu, slapped a hand against her hand and sighed. Why was her best friend so psychotic?

After Anko finished her rant at the Hachibi no Hachimata, she turned back towards Naruto and told him, "You're teaching me that move. Understand?"

Naruto's reply was a sigh and a small nod. "Yeah sure." He took another five minutes to explain how to use it properly to Anko (and Kurenai, who only listened because she thought this would be a helpful technique). "Just to make sure that I'm not doubting your _intelligence_, I'm going to ask you one question. Do you understand the benefits of this jutsu?"

Anko looked at him blankly before replying, "Ummm...no?"

Naruto sighed again and asked, "Then why the hell would you want to learn it?"

"It looked cool. And besides it means I can hit myself!"

Naruto could only slap himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He didn't think it was possible for someone to be so dumb. He took _another _five minutes to explain the benefits of the jutsu, before Anko shouted in triumph. "Now I can eat more than one dango at a time!"

Cackling madly, Anko rushed away, all the while giggling and jumping around.

This time, it was Kurenai's turn to sigh and slap herself. "Anko! Get back here! You promised me you'd stay and help me!"

Stopping immediately, Anko turned back around in fear and apprehension. "Nooooooo! I need to eat a lot of dango right away!" Anko yelled out, all the while pulling the 'I'm-a-kicked-puppy' look.

Without warning, Naruto announced, "Mugen Orugasumu no Jutsu (Orgasmic Dreams Technique)!"

Anko immediately dropped to the ground and started writhing. Kurenai was about to dispel whatever genjutsu Naruto placed on her until the purple-haired chuunin started moaning in pleasure.

"Yes! Yes! More!" Anko screamed.

Kurenai raised a brow towards Naruto's direction. "What'd you do to her?"

Naruto, starting to turn red by Anko's yells, replied, "I made a genjutsu some time ago. It was probably after I started getting the hang of doing the genjutsu without my violin. This is the first time I tried it on an actual person though, and I guess it's successful. The genjutsu is designed to give extreme amounts of pleasure to the victim, and since shinobi are trained to be used to the pain, pleasure will be unexpected." A few more minutes of Anko's obscene yells of pleasure passed until Naruto released his genjutsu.

Anko immediately sprang up and tried to grab Naruto, but the blond was too quick for her initial lunge. "Get back here! Do it to me again or teach it to me!"

Watching Anko chase around the normally stoic blond was quite an entertaining sight, Kurenai decided. She blushed when Anko brazenly made a grab for the boy's...lower parts. "Anko! Stop that right this instance!"

"Why?" Anko asked with a pout. Naruto stood several feet away from her, looking at her warily from the corner of his eyes.

"Because he's still a twelve year old boy!" Kurenai answered and smacked her hand against Anko's head.

The rest of the day passed by quickly. Naruto taught Anko his genjutsu, and she immediately went crazy with it, using it on herself and occasionally Kurenai. Kurenai, in return, taught Naruto a little bit about the mechanics of how genjutsu work, why they work they way they do, and all the other technical aspects of genjutsu.

-

The Ides of June was soon approaching, and Naruto's skills could only grow in bounds. At an unprecedented young age, he was truly a god of fire. He was so at ease around it that he could do all fire jutsus save A and S-ranked ones without handseals. If handseals were used to do his fire jutsus, their power would increase exponentially. Fire jutsus in general took so little chakra that if compared to the amount of chakra a ninja with a fire affinity needed to do an S-rank, it would be like comparing a bucket of water to a tub.

Naruto, finally realizing that the wind jutsus were a lot harder for him, slowed his training down on them and decided that mastering all the C and B rank wind jutsus was enough for now.

The stoic blond also learned all the C-rank Suiton and Doton jutsus that Iruka-sensei had included in the scrolls, which wasn't much. The Doton scroll was mostly defense jutsus, and the Suiton scrolls required a large body of water around to use.

His taijutsu also improved drastically. Hours of Kage Bunshin training gave him a perfect memory of how to strike, block, and counterstrike against all types of attacks using his gauntlets and blades.

His genjutsu, however, was still not up to par with the rest of his skills. He could easily ensnare anyone weaker than a chuunin in his genjutsus even with the violin, but if the person was jounin-level, then that person could more than likely crush his genjutsu. Without the violin, his genjutsu was at an average genin level. Kurenai had imparted to him many different genjutsus, including her own personal favorites. He also learned more about the powers both she and Anko had gained as a result of the sealing. Both admitted that neither bijuu gave it to them willingly, but rather that it had come naturally, and that was what made him so different from the two ladies. Also, due to the time he spent with Kurenai (and as a result Anko, since Anko liked to go with Kurenai when they had their genjutsu practice), he had become close with both her and the crazy snake woman, who had become the Assistant Head of the Torture and Investigation Department (and with that came a promotion from chuunin to tokubetsu jounin). Kurenai however wasn't the only to be promoted. She made jounin soon after Anko.

Luckily, he had studied the scroll his clone had made that day on the concept of using the violin's bow as an archery bow. Even though the clone was basically a copy of him, Naruto had to go over the scroll several times to edit or add some things. He also learned that by using small amounts of chakra to manipulate the wind, he could get 100 percent accuracy with his arrows.

Speaking of his arrows, the day after he read upon the scroll his clone created, he hurried to Higurashi Toto's ninja store and commissioned the man to make several hundred arrows, using the finest metal for the arrowheads. Of course, this had cost quite a dent in his savings, but hey, he knew that the Sandaime would continue to send him money until he could access his inheritance by himself. However, after collecting his arrows and a quiver to store them in from Toto, the twelve year old blond decided that he was more of a close range specialist and would only use his bow and arrow when absolutely necessary.

And to top it all off, the Genin Exam was today.

When Naruto woke up that morning, he decided that he could afford a day off training and instead focus on the Genin Exam, despite the fact that it was way below his skills. Soonafter arriving at the academy, he walked in, his pose full of confidence and power. He took his customary seat at the back and leaned back on his chair while looking out the window, waiting for the class to start.

-

Nothing of importance really happened, Naruto decided, as Iruka congratulated him on passing the Genin Exam. '_I probably could've spent my time with Kurenai and Anko,_' he grumbled mentally, thinking about the only two people he could call friends.

Grabbing the hitae-ate from Iruka, Naruto walked away to a place he could have lunch. Within ten minutes, he was eating a bowl of ramen. Just as he finally finished his bowl, Anko came in and grabbed his arm.

"Passed, did you?" she asked.

"Of course," Naruto replied calmly. He threw some coins down on the counter to pay for his ramen before Anko dragged him across the street to get some dango. Anko quickly ordered three plates of dango and 2 bottles of sake while Naruto asked for a simple cup of tea.

"This calls for a celebration! My little Naruto-kun passed his Genin Exam! Here," she said, before pushing a bottle of sake into his hands. "Drink it!"

Seeing no alternative to Anko's idea, Naruto sighed and put his cup of tea down. He slowly took a sip of the sake before coughing loudly into his hands.

"HA! My little Naruto-kun is no longer an alcohol virgin!" Anko yelled aloud while stressing the word virgin. Her emphasis on the word was not lost on Naruto, who blushed despite being Mr. Stoic.

Quickly paying for his tea and her meal, he hurriedly left the store, shouting over his shoulder, "I have to go train...or something!"

As Naruto passed the fluttering curtains to the entrance of the dango shop, he heard Anko's cackling laughter trail behind him.

-

At 8 in the morning, Naruto walked into the classroom. He scanned his classmates, and noticed that only two were currently absent: Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura. Looking back again through the students, he noticed one girl he had never before seen in the class. She was a Hyuuga, no doubt about that, but she was so...small. The small Hyuuga was sitting by herself near the front in one of the corners of the room, looking haughtily (as all Hyuuga's and Uchiha's tend to do) at all who came near her.

Naruto sat down next to her and asked her a simple question. "Aren't you a little late to be joining the graduating class? We already had our Genin Exam yesterday."

The girl, who was about to fire off a condescending question about the reason why he was approaching her, stopped. "Excuse me?" she asked in a squeaky voice, anger hidden behind her high-pitched words.

"I said, aren't you a little late to be joining the graduating class?" Naruto repeated slowly, as if speaking to a small child (which she was).

Shaking with anger, the small Hyuuga barked back, "I am not _late_ in joining this class! I have been here all year, you dumb commoner! Why don't you go back to your corner and pretend to act all cool again before I beat your ass!"

"All year? Really? What's your name?" Naruto asked.

"I am Hyuuga Hanabi, but you can call me Hanabi-sama," she replied while crossing her arms over her chest and turning her nose up, the classical pose for arrogance.

"Funny, I never noticed you. I guess it's because you're so tiny," Naruto shot back as a closing remark before heading towards his normal seat.

Hanabi, on the other hand, seethed with indignity. Some commoner insulted her! Her pride screamed for her to Jyuuken his ass all the way to Iwa, but she realized that with Iruka walking into the room right now, it would be futile.

"Alright, I hope you guys are ready for your teams. Team 1..."

Naruto drifted off as Iruka slowly listed the members of each team. When he snapped back to attention, all he heard was, "-have been selected to receive a more," a brief pause, "specialized training."

Looking around, he noticed the Haruno girl dancing with joy, while all the other girls around her were looking disappointed, so he guessed that she was on the same team as the Uchiha. '_I better not be on the same team as those two..._'

He noticed that the lazy Nara boy and the always-eating Akimichi boy gave each other a high five, so it was logical to assume that the two of them had also made the same team.

His eyes scanning around the place another time, he discarded all notions of the non-clan academy students of actually becoming genin, and was left with only a handful of students left: Aburame Shino, a bug using tracker; Hyuuga Hinata, a shy but friendly girl with confidence issues; Hyuuga Hanabi, the short arrogant girl with an explosive temper; Inuzuka Kiba, a brash boy who smelled like his dog Akamaru; and finally, Yamanaka Ino, a beautiful blond girl who could be a much more powerful kunoichi if she wasn't such a devout Uchiha-ist (Naruto's term for the Uchiha's fangirls).

Thinking about the current four people he placed on a team (Sasuke and Sakura on one, and Chouji and Shikamaru on another), he quickly guessed that the Yamanaka girl was to join Chouji and Shikamaru to reform the trio that their fathers were famous for.

Counting him, that left only five more people. Once again going through the mental profiles he created of the students, he figured that one of the Hyuuga, probably Hanabi since she was stronger, the Inuzuka boy, and the Aburame kid would make another team, since all three made excellent trackers due to their respective bloodlines.

That left just him and the shy Hyuuga, Hinata her name was. Having eliminated all possible candidates for the "specialized team" that he just heard about from Iruka, he surmised that it would be him and Hinata. '_But why us two? I _did _show that I was pretty strong when I defeated the brooder over there, but that shouldn't have been enough for me to get specialized training. And the Hyuuga girl too! She's not that strong...Speaking of the brooder, I bet some no namer kid is going to be on his team. Wouldn't make sense any other way._'

Time passed by slowly as the academy graduates waited for their respective senseis to pick them up. Ten minutes crawled by when Kurenai poked her head in. "Team 8- Oh hey Naruto-kun!"

Naruto blinked slowly. "You're a sensei Kurenai?"

"Yup! Team 8 is mine! Now hurry up you three and meet me at the dango shop. I'll see you later Naruto-kun." Kurenai said in a cheerful tone.

As expected, Shino and Kiba got up, but when Naruto glanced at the small Hanabi, he saw that she was still sitting. "Aren't you going with your sensei?"

"No, she's not my sensei, you commoner. My _sister _is on team 8. I'm receiving special training, however unfortunate that it has to be shared with you," she said disdainfully.

Off to the side, Sasuke was annoyed by the fact that some nobody and one of his most hated fangirls were on his team. The girl just wouldn't stop screaming into his ear! The urge to backhand her into the wall was quickly becoming too great, and soon he had to use his left hand to hold onto his right arm to keep that from happening.

'_Hmmm...So I was wrong in my assumptions. The younger one is to receive the special training with me, while the older is on the Aburame's and Inuzuka's team. I wonder why this is._'

Within five minutes later, a bearded jounin opened the door and shouted for Team 10. The Ino-Shika-Chou trio got up and followed the man outside. Following that, several more jounin that Naruto had seen around the village but never spoke to appeared and called for their teams, until a woman with brown hair came into the classroom. "Umm...I'm here for a...Hyuuga Hanabi and an Uzumaki Naruto," she said while looking at her hand. "Meet me at the Inuzuka Veterinarian Compound in fifteen minutes.

She then disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto and Hanabi looked at each other before Naruto shrugged his shoulder and left the classroom, closely followed by the small Hyuuga girl. They reached the compound in ten minutes and waited another five until a second puff of smoke announced the arrival of their sensei.

"Alright, let's start this meeting!" the woman said. "I'm Inuzuka Hana, and Kiba's big sister. I'm a tokubetsu jounin, meaning I am jounin-level in one field of expertise, and everything else about me is chuunin. You two are my first team, and I hope to be successful with you guys.

"Due to several observations, it has been noted that you two are the two powerhouses in your graduating class. There are some other kids who may be powerhouses too, but none as strong as you two are. And for that reason, you are here under my tutelage, because I specialize in tearing down my enemies without much trouble.

"I also work here when I'm not doing missions," Hana paused here to wave her hand towards the many sick animals, "and I can act as a field medic too, although I'm a much better vet. And I have three loyal friends that I want you to meet. Oy, Kiiroimaru, Enshokumaru, Aoimaru! Get over here!"

Three dogs appeared before the two new genin.

"This is Kiiroimaru." One of the three dogs barked. "Enshokumaru." A second dog barked. "And Aoimaru." The last dog barked its greeting. "All together, they are the Haimaru siblings! They won't ever accompany us, so you'll always find them here watching over the injured animals." Hana exclaimed. "Alright, you shorty, your turn. Give me an introduction about yourself. The basics, you know?"

Hanabi sighed a long suffering sigh before answering, "I'm Hyuuga Hanabi. I'm eight, I like beating people up, and I dislike weak fools. My hobby is watching my enemy crumble before my power."

"Right," Hana replied with a look that said "Wow, what a crazy little dipshit."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I'm four years older than the pipsqueak," cue indignant shouting, "and...my favorite hobby is to train myself to become as powerful as I can. I like...few things, and I dislike many things. I especially hate weak, fangirls."

"Ok, now that our introductions are over, let's begin our training! I'm going to test your skills, to see what you guys need help with, and what you are good at. If you tell me now, it'll make my life so much easier," Hana told the two genin.

"I'm good with fire, and my taijutsu is pretty good. My genjutsu is above average," Naruto told his new team. No need to reveal _everything_.

"I'm quick, I can use the Jyuuken style, and I found out that I'm decent with fire jutsus," Hanabi admitted.

"Alright then. Now, let's get ourselves to Training Grounds 5!"

-

On the way there, a question suddenly popped up into Naruto's head. "Hana-sensei? What team number are we?"

"We don't have a number. We are just the Special Demolition Force, or SDF. See, the thing is, Hokage-sama recently decided to deviate from the normal Konoha customs. We aren't going to be working on teamwork while doing D-ranked missions like the other genin teams. I'm going to be training you to be as destructive as possible and to be able to take and dish out an ungodly amount of damage to your enemies, so that in cases of war, you two will be the first Hokage-sama send out to the front lines to demolish the enemies. Once you get your job done, the backup will arrive and finish off the rest. But again, that's only in cases of war, which we hopefully won't see anytime soon."

The two trailing genin nodded their heads in understanding.

"Now," Hana commented once they arrived, "this is how we're going to do this. I'm going to test one of you at a time. I'll test you on your taijutsu, your ninjutsu, and your genjutsu, and see what we need to work on. If you aren't too good with your genjutsu, that's ok, since genjutsu is mainly for support. If you really want to, I might be able to find you some wide scale destructive genjutsus for you to learn, but otherwise...Anyway, Hanabi, you first!"

The black-haired girl stepped forward and slipped into the basic Jyuuken stance while staring straight at her instructor.

The two stared at each for quite some time until Naruto lazily called out, "Begin!"

Hanabi immediately jumped forward at an attempt at a charge to get close to Hana. Her left hand darted out to try to close off the tenketsu points in Hana's right arm, but the tokubetsu jounin skillfully diverted the attack by using her left arm to push aside the attacking hand. This left Hanabi's entire torso wide open for an attack, and Hana took advantage of this fact. She cocked her right fist back and aimed for Hanabi's open stomach. Her punch was deflected by Hanabi's knee, which was brought up to defend her stomach.

Jumping back, Hana commented, "That's not a normal Jyuuken style. I've never seen a Hyuuga use their legs and feet when fighting."

"I've incorporated other styles of taijutsu into my own Jyuuken style, making my taijutsu superior to the rest of my clan's style," Hanabi replied to the unasked query. "I've never used this in front of my own family though, so I'd prefer if you wouldn't tell my father of this."

"Of course, I'll keep your secret. You might have to worry about Naruto over there," she added as she nodded at the calm spectator.

"Don't worry, your secret is yours," he replied.

Getting back to the fight, Hanabi once again rushed at Hana, hoping to use her distraction against her. However, the Inuzuka woman wasn't a tokubetsu jounin for nothing. With her head still looking at Naruto, she quickly sidestepped Hanabi's strike at the chest, and turned her head back towards her student.

"That wasn't too bad," Hana commented. "Taking advantage of your enemy's distraction by attacking them. If I was a lesser opponent I probably would've failed to avoid that."

As soon as her quick advice was given, she smashed her hand into Hanabi's chest, thus pushing her so hard she hit a tree fifteen feet away. Hanabi coughed several times and groaned before slowly getting back up.

"You're persistent. That's good."

Without warning, Hanabi's head snapped up and she shouted, "Katon: Housenka."

A multitude of fireballs erupted from the fallen girl's mouth and roared towards Hana. Hana, being surprised that someone so young would be so proficient with a C-rank fire jutsu, was slow to react, and as a result, was clipped by one of the fireballs near her arms. Luckily, her arms were covered with a bracer, thus protecting her from most of the damage. However, the small Hyuuga was not finished.

"Katon: Goukakyuu!" A large flame spread from Hanabi's mouth in a fan-shaped manner, before Hanabi followed up with a second "Katon: Housenka!"

The wave of fire roared so loudly that Hana did not hear nor see Hanabi perform a second Katon jutsu. After she dodged the Katon: Goukakyuu, the surprise on her face was apparent when her eyes widened and she hastily dived towards the ground, cursing as she did so. The fireballs from the Katon: Housenka narrowly missed her head as she hit the ground.

Hana got back up and brushed the dirt off of her, before complimenting Hanabi. "That was very good. You used the Katon: Goukakyuu and obscured my view of you, and used this distraction to perform a second fire jutsu, aimed at where you thought I would appear. Very impressive. Your taijutsu passes and your ninjutsu passes. It doesn't matter that you didn't show me any genjutsu, since, as I said before, I am going to make you a front line specialist. Now, take a breather. Naruto, your turn!"

Naruto got up slowly and ambled towards the center of the field where his sensei was waiting. His gloved hands were jammed into his pockets, and his gait looked like he had no care in the world.

"You're going to need to come at me with the intent to kill if you're going to impress me, kiddo."

Pulling his hands out of his pockets, Naruto looked at her before tilting his head. "Alright sensei, if you say so."

Slowly slipping into the basic Tsume Kuracchi stance, he added his chakra to the gloves and they evolved into his deadly-looking gauntlets.

Deciding that it was her turn to play referee, Hanabi threw her hand down to cut the air and yelled, "Hajime (begin)!"

Without warning, the blond boy in front of Hana disappeared. She blinked, and he reappeared three feet in front of her, with his clawed hands ready to strike.

"Whoa!" the gasp of surprise involuntarily slipped out of Hana's mouth as she jumped back to put some distance between her and Naruto. '_He's fast,_' she thought.

Again, he disappeared, and she expected him to reappear close to her. That was half true, as he appeared behind her and aimed a punch at her spinal cord. Twisting around, the experienced Inuzuka avoided the punch narrowly, and she retaliated by kicking her foot up in a vertical split at an attempt to force Naruto into the air. Naruto leaned back and the kick sailed over him. However, he didn't expect Hana to bring her foot down in an axe kick. The kick successfully hit his stomach and sent him plummeting to the ground. Unluckily for Hana, the moment he hit the ground, he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Kage Bunshins!" she gasped in realization. She spun around, only to be met with a punch to the jaw, sending her careening into the tree Hanabi had hit.

Getting up, she cracked her neck a few times before stating, "Taijutsu, more than passing."

Satisfied with his result, Naruto's hand formed the shape of a gun (index finger aimed at target, thumb pointing straight up) and he pulled his hand back several times, as if there was a recoil. Several fireballs shot from his fingertip towards the target, which happened to be Hana.

"Shit! What is it with you genin and your damn fireballs?" she cursed.

"Gatsuuga!"

Hana jumped into the air and started spinning. She formed a small tornado as she rushed towards Naruto. He noticed that her attack gouged deep slashes into the ground every time she spun, and thus deemed that it would be a good idea to not get touched by that.

He leapt to the side and shot several more fireballs at her. The fireballs hit the spinning cyclone, and Naruto nearly freaked at the result. Rather than stopping the cyclone, the fireballs merely added their strength to the technique, so Hana became a spinning cyclone of fire.

Just as the cyclone was about to hit him, Naruto jumped into the air above Hana. The moment Hana hit the ground, he took a deep breath and let loose a torrent of flames from his mouth.

Hana was kneeling on the ground looking around for her prey when she felt the air around her heat up. Looking up, she saw a wave of flames come at her.

"Fuck!" A quick kawarimi and she was safe in the woods while a piece of wood got roasted.

Stepping out of her hiding place, she applauded Naruto's efforts. "Ninjutsu, pass."

The new team SDF then gathered together. "Alright, now that we are an official team, let's have our first official training session. I'll teach you a new move. It's called the Exploding Clone technique. This is the hand seal."

Hana performed the hand seal to make a Kage Bunshin, before sending it off to wander. The team watched her clone walk to the other side of the field, before Hana made a hand seal.

"Bunshin Bakuha no Jutsu!" The clone that had appeared exploded. "The more chakra you put into it, the bigger the explosion. However, it takes much more chakra away. In fact, just making the Kage Bunshin itself should be difficult for you two. I'm not even sure I should be teaching this to you..." she trailed off.

Naruto, however, responded by making one hundred clones. "Go practice the new technique," he ordered.

Hana's jaws dropped. "Wh-wh-wha..."

"I have a large chakra reserve," Naruto answered her unasked question.

Hanabi, not to be shown up, tried to make as many clones. Unfortunately for her, only one appeared, and she almost fainted from the exertion. Her breath became ragged as she tried to find the strength to remain standing. With another gasp, Hanabi fainted.

"Shall I wake her up?" Naruto asked Hana.

"Nah, just let her sleep. How exactly do you have so much chakra?"

"I guess you could call it a bloodline, I think."

"Interesting. You know, I think you could easily make chuunin. No, I think you're way past chuunin. With a little more work on making strategies and planning, you could be promoted to chuunin in a few months. Now, take Hanabi home. I have to report to Hokage-sama about the success we have as the new team."

"Hai, Hana-sensei."

The two shinobi leapt off, one heading towards the Hokage tower, and the other carrying a small girl to her home.

-

A month passed, and during that time, Hana taught them several more destructive jutsus, along with a few supplementary techniques. She was a patient teacher, going over things again whenever they needed the help, and correcting things that needed to be corrected. The first week had been all training, where she taught them to each be as destructive as possible while saving chakra. Following that, they started to do C-rank missions. However, of the C-rank missions, they only did one kind: the eliminating-bandit-camps kind of mission. When they attacked the bandit camp on their first mission, Hana had to console Hanabi on her first kills, while Naruto remained stoic and uncaring in the face of his enemies' death. Pretty soon, Hanabi grew a resistance to her guilt of killing.

Also during that time, Hanabi and Naruto grew closer. They weren't exactly the best of friends, but they (Hanabi) weren't insulting each other as much anymore. Now, if insults were used, it was in jest. Despite not doing any basic teamwork-building missions (also called D-rank missions), the team (sensei included) found themselves working along much better. This was a drastic improvement from their first mission.

Now, today was their first day off in a while. Naruto, being the training freak that he is, decided to go train by himself on all of the techniques he's learned since becoming twelve. Eight hours passed before he finished everything, and soon after, a shinobi dressed in all black and wearing an ANBU mask appeared.

"Hokage-sama requests your presence, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Hai. I'll be there immediately."

With a nod, the ANBU disappeared.

Five minutes later, Naruto was shown into the Hokage's office by the secretary.

"Uzumaki Naruto is here, Hokage-sama," the secretary announced.

"Thank you," the elderly Hokage replied.

When Naruto walked in, he saw the rest of his team there. Hana was there looking bored out of her mind, and Hanabi stood there at attention.

"Now that Team SDF is all here, I can give you a mission. This is an emergency mission. Team 7 was sent on a C-ranked mission to accompany a bridge builder to Wave a week ago. Unfortunately, they were attacked by two chuunin enroute. The chuunin were easily taken care of, but they were again attacked by an A-ranked missing nin. Momochi Zabuza was defeated by Kakashi, but he was injured and went into a coma. He woke up a day ago and sent me a directive asking for backup, since he feared that Zabuza would be back soon. He also had suspicions that there was an accomplice waiting in the bushes. Therefore, this mission can now be classified as an A-rank mission. You are needed because Kakashi heard from the locals that Gato, the man hunting after the bridge builder that he was guarding, was building an army of mercenaries, samurai, and a few missing nin. Your primary objective is to back up Kakashi's team and your secondary objective is to eliminate Gato and his army. Understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Good, now go home and pack your things. Be at the East Gate in fifteen minutes."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." And with that the three members of Team SDF disappeared.

-

A/N: Here ya go! My first Naruto story. The previous chapter is an index of the bijuu. Their powers and such. Be warned though, I may change their powers, or add more later on in the story.

Sorry if the beginning talk with the Shinigami was confusing. I thought that it might've needed some work, but I don't know what to do to improve it so that it makes sense.

If you spot a contradiction, please tell me so I can correct it. By contradiction, I mean something like: if I say Naruto is eight when he meets the shinigami but he's twelve when he gets the Kyuubi sealed in him. Simple mistakes like that.

I hope you enjoyed my first chapter of the Band of Nine.

**Original Techniques:** (If you're good at Japanese and my translations are wrong, please correct me.)

Mugen Orugasumu no Jutsu - Orgasmic Dreams Technique  
The victim of this genjutsu experiences extreme pleasure rather than pain, and since shinobi are used to pain, it will make this technique much harder to dispel.

**Power Levels: **(as of the end of the chapter)

Civilian male - 10  
Civilian woman - 7  
Civilian child - 3  
Normal genin - 60  
Normal chuunin - 150  
Normal jounin - 300  
Sasuke - 80  
Naruto - 1000 (in fire jutsus), 100 (in wind jutsus), 250 (in taijutsu), 200 (in genjutsu), 300 (overall)  
Anko - 400 (both her and Kurenai would be at least 1000 if they knew the Kage Bunshin)  
Kurenai - 400  
Hanabi - 120  
Hana - 350  
Sandaime Hokage - 600  
Yondaime Hokage - 800


	2. Chapter 2: Battle at Nami no Kuni

Chapter Two: Battle at Nami no Kuni

Within fifteen minutes, Team SDF assembled at the East Gate.

"Alright, our first big mission," Hana commented. "Let's do this!" And with that she sprinted out, followed by her two students Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hanabi.

They spent many hours dashing through the dense forests surrounding Konoha. When they reached the border of the forest, they stopped for a break. It was already night time, and Hana, begin the team leader, decided that they would camp here for the night.

"Alright, Naruto gather some sticks and start a fire. Hanabi, go sent up our sleeping bags and other things. I'll go catch some fish from a nearby river."

"There's no need for that Hana-sensei. I have several cups of ramen."

"Really? Ramen? Yes! No fish for dinner tonight!"

Naruto channeled a minor amount of chakra into the blood red glove on his right hand, and three plastics cups of instant ramen instantly appeared in his hands.

Hana whistled. "Damn, those are some nice gloves you got there. Oh! I better go get some water to cook the ramen," she added sheepishly before hurrying off. A few minutes later, she came back with three canteens of water. She then dumped the water into a kettle that Naruto had pulled out from somewhere, before placing it over their cozy fire.

Hanabi came over when she finished setting up the sleeping bags and sat down with her team, waiting for the water to finish boiling.

A sharp whistle came later to signal that the water was done boiling. Naruto poured the hot water into each of the three cups before handing one to Hana and one to Hanabi. The trio quickly dug into their meal before heading off to sleep. Afterall, they had to get up early tomorrow.

-

The next morning, Naruto got up first at six in the morning. He went over to the fire and snapped his fingers, removing the remainders of the dying sparks. He spent another few minutes making sure that there was no evidence of them being here, before pulling a toothbrush and toothpaste out of his seal and headed off to the river to brush his teeth.

When he came back, he quickly woke up his sensei and his teammate, and they went off to do their own morning rituals.

Done with what they had to do, Hana and Hanabi both went to their sleeping places and cleaned it up. They spent as little time as possible to pack and get ready to leave.

"Ready for another several hour run?" Hana asked her students playfully, before rushing off once again.

Within six hours, the team arrived at Port City, which as its name implied, was a port on the border of Hi no Kuni (Fire Country). Hanabi was panting deeply, her face red from the exertion. Hana herself was out of breath, but Naruto looked merely winded by the six-hour long journey. And to top it all off, all three of them had been using chakra to augment their speed!

"Stamina freak," she muttered before wandering off to find a fisherman willing to take them out to Nami no Kuni (Wave Country). She came back quickly with a bearded man and told her two students to board the man's boat.

"He'll take us to the edge of Wave, and no closer. I'm paying this guy a shitload of money too, so let's hurry up and stop delaying."

Another hour passed, and it was noon. The fisherman had only brought them to the northern tip of Wave. Too bad for them that Team 7 was on the southwestern tip.

Quickly walking forward, Hana told her team, "We had enough rest. We'll run another two hours before stopping to eat."

When lunch finally came around, even Naruto was starting to feel the exhaustion. Naruto handed a soldier pill to his sensei and teammate and took one himself. As soon as he bit into it, he could feel all his chakra returning, and he received a considerable energy boost. Their lunch was quickly devoured, before they set off once more.

It was three hours later that they finally reached the poor town that Team 7 was supposed to be in.

Hana walked up to one of the villagers and asked, "Can you point me in the direction of Tazuna the bridge builder?"

The woman pointed towards the woods near the edge of town, and Hana handed over several coins in thanks.

"Let's go," she commanded her team.

The team soon arrived at a small house in the middle of the woods. Hana went up and knocked on the door a few times before stepping back and waiting for someone to answer it.

"Coming!" a woman's voice could be heard through the door, and her footsteps signaled her arrival. The door opened to show a young woman with dark blue hair in her twenties. "Yes? Can I help you?" she asked politely.

"Is this the residence of Tazuna?" Hana asked.

"Perhaps. Can I know who's asking?"

"We're reinforcements for Kakashi and his team of brats," Hana answered and pointed at her Konoha headband, which was strapped around her neck.

"Ah, welcome! Sorry, I wasn't too sure who you guys were, and you might've been assassins after my father's life..."

"It's no problem," Hana answered. She walked in and looked around for a bit.

"Ah! Oh no! We only have one room that has space, and that's the pink-haired girl's room. That means we can squeeze you two," Tsunami pointed at Hanabi and Hana, "but not you," Tsunami, the woman, cried out in distress while pointing at Naruto.

"That's ok, ma'am. I'll sleep on the couch. If I need to, I can use my sleeping bag," Naruto spoke up.

"Now if you don't mind, ma'am, we need to find Kakashi and his team," Hana piped up.

"Of course. They're out in the woods training, I think."

"Thank you ma'am." And with that Team SDF left the house to go find their fellow Konoha nin.

-

As the trio wandered deeper into the forest, they heard various sounds of metal hitting metal and metal hitting wood. When the woods opened up to show a clearing, Team SDF saw the three genin of Team 7 either running up trees or throwing kunai while their sensei stood off to the side, nose buried deep in an orange book.

"Oy, Kakashi, reading that perverted book of yours again, I see," Hana called out to the silver-haired scarecrow.

"Hm? Oh, it's Hana," Kakashi replied blandly. "I thought I requested for a more...experience team. No offense of course, Hana," Kakashi added quickly.

"Hokage-sama said that we are to help protect Tazuna and as a secondary objective, obliterate Gato and his men. And since we all specialize in mass destruction/demolition, we are the perfect back up for you guys!" she replied cheerfully.

One of the three genin, having stopped when Hana startled him, scowled when he noticed the Uzumaki kid. '_Damn bastard._'

"Oy, Uchiha," Naruto said, after having noticed Sasuke's scowl. "You ok? You look pretty constipated. "

Sasuke's face immediately flushed, and he growled, "Fuck you, you commoner."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "What is it with you Uchiha and Hyuuga always going 'commoner this' and 'commoner that'. Just because you guys have some pretty eyes doesn't mean you're actually worth anything. In fact, you're so weak, I bet I could beat you with my eyes closed," he taunted.

While everyone winced at the pink-haired banshee's shrieks about how Sasuke would never lose, Sasuke charged forward, kunai in hand. Naruto, in return, slipped into his fighting stance, but was interrupted when Kakashi grabbed the Uchiha's arm and pulled him back.

"No fighting. We're all Konoha shinobi here," he tutted.

Sasuke merely growled back.

"Well," Hana interrupted. "Me and my team are going to go train a bit. You guys can continue whatever you were doing before we came. Now come on team!" And with that, Hana marched off, her two students trailing behind her.

Once they reached another open area, Hana commanded Naruto to make as many Kage Bunshins as he could without getting tired. 200 appeared and looked at Hana questioningly. Naruto, of course, could've created more, but as he firmly believed, everyone's gotta have some secrets.

The rest of the day was spent practicing their taijutsu styles against wave after wave of Naruto clones. Hanabi, using her advanced Jyuuken style, managed to defeat several waves of enemies before getting hit in the stomach. Hana immediately ended the training session for her, since if this was real, a hit could count as a death blow.

Naruto, on the other hand, was never hit by his clones. All of who faced him were destroyed in a puff of smoke. Granted, he started to breath heavier, but otherwise, he was perfectly fine.

After that, they went back to Tazuna's house. There, Naruto prepared his own instant ramen, which he once again pulled out from his seal. There was honestly no room at the table, since so many people were sitting there trying to eat their meal. The table was for six, but there were ten people, which obviously meant that people would be bumping elbows. Halfway through the meal, Tsunami's son pushed his seat back and started ranting at the shinobi present about how they'd all die because Gato was so powerful.

Team SDF and Kakashi all ignored the boy's outburst. This was apparent when Naruto, who was interrupted from his conversation with Hanabi, paused to look at the boy for a brief second before going back to talk to his teammate. The three genin on Team 7 though, just stared at the young boy with morbid fascination.

Having said (ranted) his part, the boy ran upstairs to his room to finish crying and bawling.

"Please forgive my son, everyone. He lost his father recently, and..."

Tsunami went on to explain the reason for Inari's depression.

-

After dinner, Hana commanded her team to go back to their training place and do the same exercise. The end result was the same, with Hanabi defeating a few waves of enemies, and Naruto only starting to breath harder.

"Alright, tomorrow, I'll expect you two to go train on your own and take shifts guarding Tazuna. Got it?" Hana asked her two students. Two nods were her reply. "Good. Now go and get some sleep."

The two genin then went back to Tsunami's house to do as their sensei had commanded them to do.

-

Hanabi released a sigh as she sat nearby the workers. It was her shift to watch over Tazuna and his men. Her thoughts drifted to her slightly cold teammate, Uzumaki Naruto. He was a commoner, no doubt about that. He was an orphan, yet he was so much stronger than she was, though she would never admit that. She enjoyed their teasing, as it brought life to her usually dull day. When she was at home, all she could expect from her family was cold glares and disturbing silence.

For other families, Hanabi knew, dinner was a time for families to catch up with each other. Parents would ask their children how their day went, children would respond, laughs would be had, and other warm family things. However, her family was different. Dinnertime was a time of more unending silence, where she and her father and sister sat down to eat expensive foods while Branch member servants tended to them. For once, she longed to have a warm and not-so-cold family, but she knew it would never happen.

When Hinata, her sister, grew to be of age, the Hyuuga clan head, Hanabi's father Hiashi, would pass off the title of head to Hinata and Hanabi would be given the Branch member seal. She knew it was to be, but she did not watch such a fate for her. If only there was something that she could do to avoid such a fate. It's not like she cared much for her family anyway...

-

Naruto was practicing his taijutsu against as many clones as he could make, which was well over 500. He knew that Hanabi's shift would finish soon and it would be his turn to watch the bridge, but he refused to stop his training early.

He removed his ankle and wrist weights for a moment to stretch out the muscles. After so long, the weights he needed to use started to increase more and more. '_Perhaps it is time for me to find out about gravity seals..._' he mused to himself.

**Gravity seals huh?**

'_Ah, Kyuubi-sama, it has been a long time. Yes, I am thinking about finding someone who can draw a gravity seal for me. The weights just aren't as good for me now anymore._'

A sharp tug and Naruto dropped to the ground, his world quickly fading to black. When he blinked his eyes, he was standing in front of the great Kyuubi-sama once more. However, Kyuubi's back was turned to him,

'_It seems I see Kyuubi-sama's back more than I see him..._'

**No, no, no. Where is it? I knew I put it around here somewhere. Stupid pile of junk**, Naruto heard the bijuu mumble, while throwing things around his cave haphazardly. **Ah, hear it is!**

Without looking at Naruto, the Kyuubi's claw shot towards him and stopped a few feet away from him. In his claws was a small ragged book. **Look through that book, and you'll find a picture of the gravity seal. Draw what you see onto your chest with blood, and send some chakra to it, and the gravity seal will activate. You can regulate the level of the gravity by the amount of chakra sent to the seal. Send some more chakra once the seal is already activated to turn it off.  
**

"Thank you Kyuubi-sama. But what else is in this book?"

**It's a book of seals for beginners. Do not show that to anyone, you understand me? That is extremely valuable, and I do not want others to know about it.**

"Of course, Kyuubi-sama, but can I show the seals themselves to other people?"

**...If you want.**

Naruto blinked, and he was suddenly back in the real world. He got back up, the book in his hands, and quickly sifted through it, before finding the gravity seal. Putting the book down, he then removed his top. He bit his thumb to draw blood and carefully drew the seal onto his chest. After sending some chakra to it, he immediately felt the weight push down on him. He fell, face first, to the ground and made a large crater.

It took him thirty minutes before he could stand again.

-

"Oh man, this is heavy..."

Naruto was leaning against one of the trees in the clearing, panting heavily as the increased gravity pushed down on him. He didn't have the chance to pull the top back on, since it would be bending down to pick it up. And that was currently a big no-no.

He stood like that for another half hour, before finally picking up the courage to attempt to pick up his shirt. Luckily, he was used to the gravity enough that he didn't fall down to the ground when he bent over. Immediately.

"Argh!" he growled. Picking up the shirt first, he then tried to stand up again. It took him quite some time. When he was finally clothed and standing, his acute senses, courtesy of his bijuu, detected the smell of a girl approaching him.

"Are you ok there? You're sweating pretty heavily," the girl asked as she came up to him, basket in hand.

"I'm fine miss."

"I'm a guy," the girl (guy?) in front of him replied. Then she (he?) giggled. A girlish giggle.

'_Nope, definitely a girl._'

"Whatever you say," Naruto stated, clearly not wanting to deal with a gender-confused...person.

"So, what are you doing out here in the middle of the woods? Oh! I'm Haku, by the way."

"Naruto," he said as an introduction. "I'm training. What about you?"

"Me? Oh, I'm just gathering herbs for someone special to me...Well, I'm off. See you around Naruto-kun!"

The gender-confused Haku then walked away, shaking her hips in a fashion that only girls could do.

'_If that really is a guy, I will stab my eyes out with my gauntlets for staring at his ass_,' Naruto thought to himself before shaking his head to clear it of any inappropriate thoughts.

He then picked up the fallen weights and sealed that into his right glove. Following that, he went back to practicing his taijutsu, and that was no easy feat with the seal on.

-

The next six days passed quickly. Nothing new happened, except for Tsunami's son (who Naruto still hadn't bothered to learn the name of), who increased the number of angst moments he had. If Naruto thought about it, the number of angst times he had probably could've rivaled Sasuke's.

Naruto was once again standing guard at the bridge, before quickly becoming bored. He thought back to the time when he was standing in Hokage-sama's office, and he recalled the second objective. _Eliminate Gato's army._

He made several Kage Bunshin to watch over the bridge before going off to look for his sensei to remind her about their second goal.

Quickly finding her in the room that she shared with Sakura and Hanabi, he then informed her that they should be doing something about eliminating Gato's army.

"If we eliminate Gato's army and Gato himself, then the missing nin trying to kill Tazuna would stop, since no one would be paying them, so this is a win-win situation."

"I know that," Hana snapped back. "What do you think I've been doing for that past two days? Sleeping?"

Naruto said nothing.

"...I am going to kick your ass when we get back to Konoha," she grunted.

"So do you have any leads on where Gato and his army are hiding?"

"Yeah, I got one. Took me a while though. I still didn't get the chance to scout out the place though," Hana informed him.

"Why don't you send me and Hanabi to do it? You can think of it as good experience for us," her persuaded.

"Alright, fine. If you mess up though, you two aren't going to be doing anything but D-ranked missions for the next year, understand?" she threatened.

Naruto nodded. That was a scary threat indeed.

"Now, to get there..." Hana quickly told him what he would need to do to get to the base.

He then left the room and headed towards the training spot that they used.

Upon finding Hanabi, he told her, "Hana-sensei has found Gato's base. She wants us to scout out the place."

Hanabi, looking up from her training, nodded when Naruto told her what he was here for. "Alright, let's go then."

The two quickly dashed through the forest, heading towards the direction that Hana had told Naruto to go.

Two and a half hours and 60 miles later, the two genin arrived at a huge mansion. The place was probably bigger than the town that Tazuna lived near. It was just that big. Surrounding the mansion was a ten foot tall iron gate. The front had a large gate, manned by four guards. Each guard was tall and bulky, except for one, who looked like he was in charge of the other three. The fourth guy was of average height, but his stance portrayed him to be a powerful warrior. The three big guards had a katana strapped to their waist, but the leader had no apparent weapon. The four of them stood there looking bored.

Beyond the gates, more guards patrolled the grounds. Hanabi and Naruto could see several groups of three guards each, walking around the place in a pattern. All the guards had their own katana.

Naruto nudged Hanabi and signaled for her to use her Byakugan to see about the number of people located inside the mansion.

As soon as her white eyes opened, she staggered back in shock. Naruto looked at her questioningly. "How many people do you see?"

"At least...six hundred," she gasped. "And that's only the mercenaries. There's about another two hundred people who look like wandering samurai."

Naruto whistled. That was a shitload of enemies...

Hanabi gasped again. "They...they have _slaves _inside the mansion!"

Naruto snapped his head back towards her and stared incredulously. His blood began to boil at the thought of the slaves there.

"Lets go free them," he whispered.

"But...but...there are so many people there! We need _backup_!"

"Have you forgotten, Hanabi, that we are shinobi who specialize in widespread destruction? We have been trained for jobs like this. We must not let Gato go unpunished for this crime!" he said passionately.

Hanabi stared at her teammate. This was the first time she had seen him get so angry. She swallowed the doubt she had in her and nodded. "Ye-yes. Let's go. We'll those monsters who we are."

"Alright, do any of those people have large chakra coils?" he asked her, still seething at Gatou.

"Only...one does not have civilian-sized chakra coils. And it looks like this person is at least jounin-level."

"That's good. We can easily take them out then. Not only that, but it's nighttime, so some will be sleeping, thus making our job easier."

"Yes...but what about the jounin?"

"Don't worry. Here's the plan..."

-

Five minutes later, Naruto finished explaining his plan to his teammate. She surprisingly agreed to his plan with no objections. "Ready?" he asked her. His reply was a nod. "Then let's go."

The two genin disappeared, only to silently appear on the branches of a tree growing inside the gates. Without making a sound, they hurriedly eliminated the patrolling guards with ease. A simple kunai slash across the throat from behind would kill them quickly and silently.

This was the first part of the plan. Eliminate the guards without making a sound. They knew that it might get a bit difficult, since they were not exactly masters of the art of silent killing. They preferred heading in straight through the gate and taking out anyone who opposed them. However, they were smart enough to recognize the need for silence.

All of the patrolling guards were soon eliminated. The bodies were dragged into the surrounding foliage by Naruto's Kage Bunshins. Hanabi argued that she she should make some Kage Bunshins to help too, but Naruto told her that she needed to save her chakra for the fight against the missing nin. This settled their argument.

The second step of the plan was to then eliminate the guards standing outside the gate, since they might get suspicious of the lack of noise coming from behind them. Four kunai were thrown, but only two hit their targets. The leader and one of the samurai guards managed to avoid them. The big man unsheathed his samurai, while the shorter man pulled out a kunai.

Both genin thought, '_Shit a shinobi!_' Both Naruto and Hanabi had assumed that all four guards standing outside were mere thugs and not ninja, and this was their mistake.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Two little kids playing ninja? How pathetic. However, that little girl would make an excellent slave," the leader smirked.

Hanabi shuddered under the leer she was put under by the leader, but she toughened herself up. A sudden blur from her left dashed forward, blades extended. The shinobi's eye widened, and he brought his small kunai in front of him to attempt to block. He managed to deflect the attacking blades away from his heart, and used that moment to pull out a second kunai. The missing nin then lunged forward to try to stab Naruto while he was off guard, but Naruto used his other hand to block the blade. The kunai rang against the thick metal of the gauntlet.

"Interesting toy you have there. I'll be sure to take it when you're dead!"

Without warning, the hulking thug swiped his sword down. However, his downward attack was halted when he saw out of the corner of his eye the shuriken Hanabi threw at him. He knew that if it hit a vital, he'd be dead, and unfortunately for him, the shuriken was aimed at his heart. Thus, his attack on Naruto stopped, and he dodged the flying weapon.

He turned to face her, and saw that she was less than half his size. In fact, she barely reached his waist! She would be no match for his strength. A toothy grin revealed itself on his face as he realized that fact.

He charged her and swung the sword horizontally, but the small genin jumped over it and tried to sidekick him. He let the kick hit him in the face, but all it did was force his head in the other direction.

Hanabi frowned. Her attacks did nothing to the large man in front of her. It would probably be a better idea if she and Naruto switched opponents. Catching Naruto's eye, she signaled her intention and he nodded. The two of them prepared to charge the people they were fighting, and at the count of three, both did so.

Just as they were in attacking range, the two genin disappeared. Naruto appeared in front of the hulking thug, blades protruding into the big samurai's chest, while Hanabi had her foot buried in the missing nin's stomach.

The big samurai immediately died and collapsed to the ground in a loud thud. The leader though, merely took a step back from the force of Hanabi's kick.

"You two kids aren't too bad," he said, before he pulled out a wakizashi from his clothes, a short sword that was usually between 12 and 24 inches. His happened to be 18 inches long.

He lunged forwards at Naruto, who responded by leaping backwards. Naruto also pulled out his violin from his now unactivated gauntlets. Quickly putting the bow against the strings he started to play a song that became one of his favorite genjutsu.

"Magen: Jigoku Gouka no Jutsu (Demon Illusion: Hellfire Technique)," he whispered menacingly. The man immediately stopped his lunge and started screaming. His wakizashi was dropped in his fervor to put out the flames he imagined were burning him to a crisp. The man soon died from sensory overload. While physically unharmed, his senses were telling him that he was on burning, and the pain soon became real as his heart stopped beating.

Naruto walked forward and grabbed the man's wakizashi. Examining it, he noticed that it fit well in his grip, but it seemed a bit dull, showing that it was used quite often...on human skin.

"To the victor goes the spoils," he muttered aloud. He then sealed the weapon into his left hand glove.

Looking back at Hanabi, he told her, "Step two completed. Let's move onto step three."

The two genin jumped over the fence again and landed inside the yard. They dashed towards the house, and when they got close, jumped up. They landed on the third floor. Naruto quickly looked at her. "Don't forget. Kill anyone you see. If you get swarmed, lead them outside. I'll take up, you take down. Once we finished eliminating this scum, we can go free the slaves in the basement."

"Yeah, yeah I remember," she waved him off. The two separated and headed in different directions.

-

Hanabi walked down the stairs. Just as she was about to reach the second floor, she heard several loud obnoxious voices moving towards her.

"-and then I grabbed her hips and ripped her clothes off! She was terrific man!"

A wave of anger flushed through Hanabi, but through extreme mental control, she managed to subdue it. Taking a step back, she pulled a kunai out from her pouch and prepared to use it to kill whoever was walking towards the stairs.

"-sure? I don't think this would be a go- Urk!"

The man who was talking had a kunai buried in his neck the moment he stepped into Hanabi's view. The second guy, who also appeared at that moment, was staring at the falling body that was once his friend. Without warning Hanabi lunged forward. The kunai dashed across the man's throat, and his eyes widened in shock, before quickly fading to nothingness.

"Scum," Hanabi whispered, eyes narrowed.

She stepped over the bleeding corpses and continued down the stairs. Upon reaching the second floor she found herself in a long hallway. Loud grunts and some cheering could be heard. Taking a few quick steps, she discovered that this was a training dojo. Several samurai were practicing their skills with their katanas, while a group of mercenaries stood in a circle, apparently watching two people brawl.

The two groups of enemies were too busy with what they were doing to notice a small girl appear in their dojo. Quickly pulling out as many kunai as her hand could hold, she threw them into the crowds of enemies.

"Ahh!"

Several screams echoed through the room, and all eyes were suddenly focused on her. Her Konoha hitae-ate flashed brightly against the lights in the room.

The mercenaries stood there looking menacing, while some grinned at how they were getting a new slave today.

The samurai, on the other hand, were not trained to stand around idle in the presence of a threat, no matter how small (and small she was). Two men immediately rushed forward, their hands on the hilts of their swords. The two unsheathed their swords when they got within three yards of her. The one on the left brought his sword up for a vertical strike, while the one on the right held his sword ready for a horizontal strike.

"Hah!" the two samurai yelled. However, Hanabi sidestepped the vertical strike and ducked under the horizontal strike, before taking a step right up to the samurai. Two quick and precise strikes from her hands left the two samurai on the ground, holding their hearts. They shuddered once before dying of heart failure.

"You fools are weak," she spat, her lips curled in disgust.

The samurai looked on in surprise at how easily a small girl could cut down two of their number. The mercenaries, on the other hand, believing that the samurai were weak, decided that it was no big deal that a small girl could kill them so easily.

Three mercenaries charged at the girl, who easily jumped over them and hit a spot on their neck, immediately disabling everything below the head. The moment her feet touched the ground, she pushed herself back towards where the downed foes were lying and struck at the heart once more, killing all three without pause.

This time the samurai and mercenaries stopped. A girl no older than ten killed five men without breaking a sweat. Deciding that she was a bigger threat than they originally thought, the samurai all unsheathed their swords. The mercenaries stood back to watch, thinking that they would win, considering the girl was outnumbered 15 to 1.

Hanabi quickly took a step back, and reached for two kunai. She held one in each hand in a reverse grip, so that the hilt was facing the samurai and the blades were lined up against her forearm. Using chakra enhanced speed, she dashed forward and slit the throat of the nearest samurai, before continuing on to the second one. This time, her blow was blocked by a katana. Three samurai to the side swung their swords in perfect synchronization, but Hanabi merely ducked under them and swept their feet from under them. The three men feel with a thump, and before they could react, their throats were slit.

Hanabi turned back to look at the remaining enemies. There were twelve samurai, and around thirty mercenaries.

-

Naruto watched Hanabi take a few steps down the stairs before turning around and running up the stairs, three at a time. He reached the third floor and took a peek around the corner. It looked like this was the dormitories. Many doors lined the hallway. At the end of the hallway, Naruto noticed that there was a bathroom.

Sneaking into the first room, Naruto noticed three shapes in the dark, slumped over and snoring loudly. Naruto sighed.

"This is so troublesome," he muttered. He was a destruction specialist, not a silent killer. Pulling out a kunai, he walked up to the first sleeping figure and clamped his hand over the man's mouth. The man's eyes immediately snapped open and he attempted to yell, but Naruto's hand blocked out most of the noise. A quick pull of the knife, and the man's blood was sprayed over the wall. Quickly repeating the procedure over the other two, he moved on to the next room.

This room was no different. Several people would be inside. Some would be sleeping, some would not. All were eliminated.

Several rooms down, Naruto opened the door to find one of the mercenaries. This room was different from the rest, though.

This man was already awake and had his weapon out the moment Naruto came in. Not only that, he wasn't just a normal thug. He was an experienced fighter, it seemed. He emitted power. Not on the same level as a Kage, or even the Sannin, but he was still very strong. Add to this that this man wasn't a ninja made this man very dangerous.

"Hello," the man greeted. "I am Hattori Hanzo. And you are?"

Naruto put his kunai away before switching his gloves back to battle-mode. "I am Uzumaki Naruto."

"Interesting. I hope we have a good fight." Without delay, the man sped forward. He was only a yard away, but his sword was still in its sheath. Another step, and the man drew his sword. If Naruto had been a regular genin, or even a chuunin, he would have fallen dead. Hanzo had used the momentum from pulling the sword out of his sheath to accelerate his attack, and Naruto had only narrowly ducked under it. He didn't even have the time to put his gauntlets up!

Pressing on, Hanzo continued his onslaught of strikes. Up, down, diagonal, diagonal, right, left, up, diagonal, right, left, down, up, right. There was no pattern to his attacks, merely random moves. Each strike was impossible to predict, and that made countering impossible. Naruto proceeded to block the strikes as best as he could.

Unfortunately, a few still managed to nick him. He jumped back through the doorway and took a deep breath. This man was good!

Hanzo didn't even look winded. His smile never left his face. The blond genin decided that now was the perfect time to bring out his blades. Six blades shaped like claws emerged from the gauntlets, and it gave Naruto an extended reach. He brought his hands up in an X-shaped block, and started to tap his foot rhythmically.

As soon as he counted the third beat, he dashed forward, both arms extended, trying to impale the man with his blades. It was for naught, as the man took two steps back and jammed his knee into Naruto's stomach.

Naruto coughed and wheezed, since he just had a knee buried in his gut. Before he had the chance to recover, the man had already rushed forward. Naruto, however, was prepared for this. The man brought his knee up again to smash his knee into Naruto's face, but Naruto used the palms of his gauntlets to block, followed by a sweep. Hanzo jumped and brought the hand not holding his weapon down in a cutting motion, as if to split apart the seas. Naruto sidestepped awkwardly from his crouching position, and Hanzo's hand smashed through the floor. The mercenary widened his eyes in surprise, and Naruto took this brief pause to strike at the man.

However, Hanzo was not inexperienced enough to fall for such a simple attack. Rather, he twisted his body as best as he could, so the incoming blades struck his shoulder instead of the heart. The man grunted and pulled on his arm strongly, yanking his appendage free from its prison.

Both fighters jumped back in preparation for their next move, although Hanzo was holding onto his injured arm with his sword arm.

"One last attack, eh Naruto-san?" Hanzo asked with a smile still on his face.

"Very well, Hanzo-san," Naruto nodded his reply.

Naruto, to show respect to his opponent, brought out one of the strongest moves he learned in the Tsume Kuracchi style. Crouching down so that his back was vertical to the ground, he extended his left foot out by a foot and brought his right foot back by one foot. This resulted in his feet being spread really far apart. He also tucked his elbows in, like a chicken, and had his blades face forward. This was called the Sentsume. The technique was designed as both an assassination technique (like the Chidori, only much less quieter) and a final move. The user would push off of his right foot, giving the user an extra boost in speed. By dashing forward really quickly and using significant arm strength, the user could then stab at the target multiple times. Those who saw the attack claimed that the move struck the target 1000 times, thus leading to the name Sentsume (Thousand Claws).

Hanzo, on the other hand, brought his right foot forward and his left foot back. his injured arm (the left arm), was raised and pointed at Naruto, as if it was a second sword. His sword arm (the right arm) was also raised, except the point lay under his left arm's fingers. This stance was the ultimate form of his family's style, and he believed it would not fail him here.

"AH!"

The two yelled out a battlecry, and charged forward.

Three steps away...Two steps away...One step away...

The two stood in opposite directions. Hanzo was staring at the door to his room, while Naruto was staring at the wall. Both smiled, although each did so for different reasons.

Suddenly Hanzo crumpled to the ground, blood spurting from his side. He coughed several times, and spit the blood from his mouth. Naruto turned around and faced the fallen Hanzo.

"You have beaten me, Naruto-san," Hanzo commented. "Please, take my sword as a sign of your victory. If you show it to a Hattori clan member, they will recognize that you have defeated the clan head and will swear loyalty to you."

"So you're a clan head?" Naruto asked, while he picked up the sword. He looked it over carefully before sealing it into his left glove.

"Yes. I joined Gato as a mercenary because my clan, although very prestigious, lost everything in the depression in Iwa several years ago, and we needed money. I decided a while ago that I would sell my service for money, so that I could perhaps send it back to my home. I did not expect to meet someone as powerful as you though."

Naruto nodded. Really, what could he say to that?

"I just hope that someone else in my family has found a way to make money...For little Mika-chan..." he murmured, before speaking up again. "Now please, send me off to visit my father and mother. It has been a while since I saw them."

Naruto nodded. Taking a kunai, he stabbed the man's heart and watched the life leave his eyes. '_After I leave Konoha, I will go to Iwa and find his family. Yes, for this man, I will do just that. Until then, I hope they can survive._'

He bent down and gently closed Hanzo's eyes before whispering a few words of prayer.

He then walked towards the door, but turned back to look at Hanzo's peaceful body once more, before turning around and moving down the hall.

-

Hanabi stared at the remaining people in the dojo. She had taken down two more samurai and eight mercenaries. Her body sported a cut from when one of the now-dead samurai had swung his sword blindly at her in his death throes. It seemed that Hanabi, in her haste, did not deal an immediate death to the man. He had only succumbed to his wounds after seeing his sword nick his enemy's arm.

The mercenaries were starting to lose their confidence, until two big men roared at the same time, "Attack! Do not lose your confidence!"

With a fierce battlecry the remaining samurai and mercenaries all charged forward, strengthened by their leaders' moral-raising roars, while the two leaders stood back to watch.

Hanabi, fortunately, made short work with all of the mercenaries and samurais, and received only two more cuts and one bruise (from when one of the samurai hit her in the back with his hilt, before he was hit in the heart by a Jyuuken strike).

The two big men from before, each over seven feet tall, stepped forward.

"We are the Denkouzo brothers." The one on the left had a black mohawk and a broadsword strapped to his back. The other one had long black hair tied into a ponytail and a pair of trench knives on his fists.

The long haired brother punched his fists together in preparation for a fight and said, "I'm Den, and I'm the older brother."

The brother with the mohawk pulled the broadsword off his back and said, "I'm Kouzo, and I'm the younger brother."

Together, the two stated at the same time, "You are strong. If you can defeat us, we will swear our loyalty to you."

Hanabi, who was only a little bit more than half their height, stared up at the two looming figures. "You are no challenge for me."

Both men stood at the ready, staring down at Hanabi. Hanabi, on the other hand, had to tilt her head up all the way to see the two giants' faces. Quickly deciding that it would be a better idea to watch their feet and hands rather than their faces, Hanabi lowered her pulsing Byakugan eyes.

At an unseen signal, Kouzo dashed forward, broadsword already reared back, preparing to swing at the small Konoha genin. However, no matter how skilled Kouzo was with his weapon, the weight of the heavy broadsword slowed him down enough that Hanabi could easily avoid his swings. Instead, she chose to concentrate on Den. Although he was not a shinobi and could not use jutsu, he was still a very big and dangerous opponent. His knives were much easier to swing than Kouzo's broadsword.

She ducked under another of Kouzo's massive swings before dashing through his legs towards Den. The large man stared down at her passively, before her hand snaked out and struck his leg. The moment her hand hit his leg though, she knew something was wrong.

For one, her fingertips were hurting really badly. They throbbed in pain and seemed to swell.

For another, when her fingers hit Den's leg, a loud metal clang was heard.

Den responded to Hanabi's confusion by pulling up his pants sleeve to show her his metal shin guards.

'_Shit,_' Hanabi thought mentally. Those metal guards would be impossible to get through, and since Hanabi barely reached the two brothers' thighs, this made attacking them much more difficult.

Sighing internally, she was thankful that Hana-sensei had decided to teach her several moves that were to be used only if your opponent is too strong for you and is a lot bigger than you. This meant it was good against practically every single shinobi out there.

She put her hands into the Rat hand seal, and yelled, "Hansetsu no Jutsu (Half-Size Technique)!"

The two brothers looked at each other before feeling the ground rush up to meet them. When they blinked off their nausea, they noticed that they were now the same size as Hanabi, thus eliminating any unfair advantages they may have had.

Normal mercenaries would have screamed at seeing how they have shrunk, but in the face of this technique, the two brothers shrugged and attacked anyway. The only thing they lost was their size advantage. They still believed in their body strength.

Hanabi watched the two run at her. Dodging Kouzo's swing, she maneuvered behind him and went to strike his spine when her warning sense went off. She jumped to the left and just narrowly missed Den's stab to her side. The moment her foot touched the ground, Kouzo spun around and raised his broadsword high in the air. Quick lunging deeper into his strike zone, this made Kouzo pause in his attack, as she was too close to hit with a broadsword. Luckily, his brother Den was there to back him up, Den once again aimed a stab at Hanabi's side.

Hanabi responded this time by grabbing her attacker and throwing him over her left shoulder. He hit the ground with a thud, and Hanabi moved to Jyuuken the man, but Kouzo managed to appear with his broadsword in the way.

_Clang!_

"Fuck!" Hanabi swore outloud, her fingers hurting.

Kouzo grinned. "Hurts, doesn't it?"

Hanabi glared at him. Deciding that now was a good time to bring out a weapon, she bit her thumb and spread the blood over the seal on her arm. The seal was applied two days ago, when Naruto had suddenly come up to her and gave her a way to carry around her weapon a lot easier. The use of the weapon though, came from Hana-sensei, who told her that there were times when a weapon may very well save her life. Hana had given her a rapier, small and light, to use, and Hanabi and grown to be adequate with it. She much rather preferred taijutsu, but she knew that she could not defeat Kouzo without a weapon.

A poof of smoke emerged, and when it cleared, Hanabi was holding onto her rapier. She had named it Stinger, after a saying she had heard. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee."

And that's exactly what she did with the sword. Her movements were quick and graceful. It looked harmless, as if being hit by it would do no damage other than give a bruise. However, a fast lunge, and the victim would find themselves impaled through the light metal. The sword itself was flexible, and when swung, would bend at an unnatural angle. However, a quick flick of the wrist, and the rapier would straighten to impale its target.

Holding herself in a fencing stance, Hanabi brought her right foot forward and crouched, left hand behind her back. Her right shoulder was pointed at the two brothers, and her rapier was aimed at their heads, rather than the chest. She took a step forward, right foot first, and lunged at Kouzo, who planted his broadsword in front of him and blocked the attack. Hanabi's weapon bounced off, and she staggered because of it.

Den, seeing the momentary lapse of concentration, took one giant step forward (which was impressive, considering the fact that he was now less than four feet tall), and sliced Hanabi's neck.

Or at least he tried to, before Hanabi had blocked the attack by bringing her rapier up and then jumping back to absorb the blow.

'_I have to end this, before I get too tried to finish the rest of the plan..._'

"I admit, you two are much stronger than I anticipated. However, I cannot delay this anymore. Prepare to swear loyalty to me." Hanabi quickly dropped down to her feet and removed the weights from her ankles. Hana had forced her to wear them after telling her that her Jyuuken attacks could be much more effective if combined with a faster speed. After the weights were dropped to the ground, Hanabi dashed forward, seemingly blinking out of sight of the two brothers. In a flash, Hanabi was standing behind the two, rapier poking Den's neck.

"If you move, Kouzo, then I will kill your brother and then kill you. Now you two have lost," Hanabi stated calmly.

Both men exchanged a look before bowing down and kneeling on their knees in front of Hanabi. "We swear our allegiance to the master," the two chorused. "But first, may we know master's name?"

Hanabi, clearly enjoying her victory, responded, "Hyuuga Hanabi."

"Very well Hanabi-sama. What would you command of us?"

Hanabi quickly released the Hansetsu no Jutsu that was used on them previously, before telling them to follow her.

"Of course," the two brothers chorused again.

The trio then left the dojo, before moving onto the next floor.

-

After the two genin hadn't returned in such a long time, Hana cursed.

'_Where are they? Have they been discovered? I never really trained them in stealth...Damn! I should have went with them!_'

Hana grabbed her stuff before preparing to leave. Just as she opened the door to the house, Kakashi stood in front of her. "Where are you going, Hana? It's midnight."

"My two genin were sent to go scout out Gato's mansion, and apparently, they haven't returned yet. It's been three hours since I've sent them."

Kakashi frowned as he received this piece of information. "Scout out Gato's mansion? What for?"

"I told you. Hokage-sama gave us a second objective, which was to eliminate Gato and whatever army he was building. I found leads on his place, and sent the two to do some recon."

"Oh...well one of us have to stay here to guard Tazuna and his family, in case Zabuza comes back earlier than expected. I think you should stay. I'm a more experienced shinobi, and you can probably take Zabuza by yourself."

"No! They are my students, and they are _my _responsibility," she growled while grabbing Kakashi by the scruff of his shirt. The man frowned before nodding his assent.

"Alright, then. How about you wait another hour before you go searching for them? Maybe they decided to stay a little longer to scout out the place."

Hana thought this over, before nodding hesitantly. "Very well. One hour," she stated before stalking back to the house.

-

Naruto stalked up the stairs, gauntlets and blades out. Upon reaching the fourth floor, he saw that it was another hallway of bedrooms.

"Fuck that, I'm not going through each room again," he groused. He quickly shifted his gauntlets back to the glove form. Making forty Kage Bunshin, Naruto sent two to each room.

After five minutes, when he guessed that the clones were all situated, he brought his hands up to form a handseal and muttered, "Bunshin Bakuha no Jutsu (Exploding Clone Technique)!"

Forty loud explosions rocked the hallway, and all the people sleeping in the rooms were killed.

"I'm sure they heard that one..." Naruto muttered, before moving onto the fifth floor, where he guessed Gato's office or room would be. When he made it there, he nodded.

"Yup, Gato's room, alright." The room was humongous! It took up the entire floor, and had many intricate antiques lying around. At the back of the room, Naruto could make out a large safe, at least eight feet tall and ten feet wide. He whistled at this. He slowly walked through the room, occasionally stopping to take one of Gato's priceless antiques and sealing it into his right glove.

When he finally got to the safe at the other end of the room, he looked at it and whistled again. This was an impressive safe, with top-of-the-line technology used to make it. Too bad it wasn't made with ninjas in mind.

Taking two steps back, Naruto formed several hand seals and took a large breath. "Fuuton: Renkuudan (Wind Release: Drilling Air Projectile)!" He spit the ball of air out, and it slammed into the safe. The ball of air immediately began to drill a hole through the safe, and when it finally died down, Naruto could see all the way inside.

"Wow, this safe has got to be at least six feet thick."

He used the Renkuudan jutsu several more times, before climbing in. The safe was basically a thief's wet dream. Cash and gold was lying everywhere. Several unique weapons were also strapped to a shelf to the side, containing weapons of all shapes and sizes. Scrolls and artifacts were strewn everywhere.

Naruto stumbled about the safe, sealing all the money and artifacts into his right glove, while all the weapons and scrolls went into his left glove. "This is no safe," he muttered as he left, "this is a freaking armory."

When he climbed out of the safe, he saw a man six feet tall standing in front of him. On his back was a blade as tall as he was. The weirdest part about the man was that his skin was blue and that he had gills on the side of his neck.

'_There's no way he's not one,_' he muttered in his head.

**And you would be correct. That's the Sanbi no Isonade at work. The blue skin, the gills, the sword...**

'_What do you mean the sword?_'

**Well, the Sanbi has a...subordinate fish, that helps him survive. The fish is called Samehada, and is used to help Sanbi with his food. He absorbs the chakra, and sends it back to Sanbi, so that the Sanbi has quite a lot of chakra.**

'_Right..._' Naruto replies back disbelievingly.

"Hello there. I'm here to kill you!" the big blue man said cheerfully. The grin on his face showed his extremely sharp and pointy teeth.

"Hmm..." Naruto said as he studied the man in front of him. "So you are Sanbi-san. What an interesting shade of blue you are."

The man in front of him stared back. "And how do you know of me? I know I'm popular and all...but isn't stalking going a bit too far kid?"

"Hm? Well it's obvious. After all, Shinigami-sama has sealed Kyuubi-sama in me," Naruto replied blandly.

"Right. Well, the name's Hoshigaki Kisame! Let's fight!"

"Please, Kisame-san, I'd rather not. You are working under Gato for money right? How about I give you some of the money directly from the man's vault?"

"But...I want to fight someone strong!"

"Well, I just turned twelve last October, so I haven't had a lot of time to master my new powers. How about we fight in a few years, when I am much more stronger and have had more time to practice with my skills?"

"Ummm...fine. You better not renounce your side of the bargain."

"Don't worry. Here," Naruto unsealed about twenty percent of the money he stole from Gato and gave it to Kisame.

Kisame whistled. "That's a shitload of money..."

"Yes I know. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go find my teammate." Naruto turned towards the stairs.

"Oy kid, what's your name?"

"...Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha."

"Right, well, until next time!" Kisame yelled before jumping out the window. Naruto went up to the window Kisame jumped out of and watched the blue man walk out of sight while whistling a tune. Turning back around, he started towards the stairs, intent on catching up to Hanabi.

-

Hanabi and her two new servants quickly hurried down the stairs to the first floor. Everyone they saw was quickly eliminated by a swipe of Den's trench knives or a slash of Kouzo's broadsword.

"Where is the basement?" Hanabi asked.

"This way, Hanabi-sama," Den said, before taking the lead. A few more people were killed, and the last one managed to scream before his head was lopped off by Kouzo. The scream alerted the rest of the first floor that something was off. Tons of people burst into the foyer, where the trio currently was, when they saw the dead bodies of their comrades, they started to attack. Countless mercenaries died trying to kill the two traitors and the little girl.

It seemed that there was no end to the number of attacking enemies. Kouzo swung his broadsword with both hands and managed to bisect three men at once. "Hanabi-sama!" he yelled. "The basement is in that direction! We will hold off these scum while you do what you have to do!"

Hanabi nodded before rushing down another set of stairs. This set of stairs was dimly lit, and Hanabi could see that this place was like a dungeon. The whole place was damp, there was very little light, and the sobs of the prisoners rang throughout.

Quickly rushing forward, Hanabi pulled a shuriken out of her pouch and threw it at the daydreaming guard. The sound of the metal slicing through flesh echoed and all the nearby prisoners was put into silence. When Hanabi appeared in their view, several of the more livelier prisoners cheered.

Hanabi scanned the crowd of prisoners, all held back by the bars that made up their cells. They were all women! And with this, Hanabi came to a revelation. They were probably going to be used as sex slaves for sick rich men. She could feel her anger brimming, but forced it down since she knew she had to help these ladies.

She summoned her rapier and using her chakra, coated the blade so that it was extremely sharp. Hanabi knew this would drain her very quickly, but she didn't have anything else that could possibly cut through the metal bars. She ran through the corridor of cells, using her rapier to hurriedly cut the bars to pieces, before moving to the next cell. The women slowly clambered out and shifted around, unsure of what to do next. When Hanabi finished freeing everyone, she stopped only to see all the slaves look at her confusedly.

"Follow me!" She ran back towards the stairs, and the women followed. Hanabi burst back into the foyer, but she stopped in surprise. The jounin that she had spotted was there, staring down her two servants Den and Kouzo.

Just as the nuke-nin was about to strike Den in a vital area with a kunai, Hanabi sped forward and blocked the attack with her rapier.

The man looked at her, before his eyes met hers and he immediately stepped back in surprise.

'_A Hyuuga! I bet Raikage-sama would pardon me if I brought this Hyuuga back to Kumo...Yes, she's mine._' The man grinned a fierce grin at his thought.

Hanabi checked out the man's hitae-ate, only to growl when she noticed the symbol of Kumo. After all, Kumo tried to steal the Hyuuga's eyes six years ago.

She sealed her rapier away and decided to use a kunai against the man. She let loose a fierce roar before dashing forward, using her small size and quick speed to get within the man's defense.

_Wham!_

Hanabi's nimble hands slammed the kunai into the jounin's side, but the man disappeared in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, one of the dead mercenary's corpse was in his place.

A whistling in the air told Hanabi that someone threw something sharp at her, and she immediately ducked and spun.

"I'm taking you back to Raikage-sama, and he's going to pardon me for killing that loser Shinobu," the man stated casually.

"Fine, since you seem so eager to get the Hyuuga's eyes, allow me to give you a first-hand demonstration of the power of the Byakugan!" Hanabi's eyes finally turned on her doujutsu. This was quite a rare moment, since Hana had beat the arrogance out of her early in their training sessions. She learned that her eyes could be fooled, and that it wasn't good to rely on them all the time.

Her kunai was dropped, and she took on the normal Jyuuken stance. She let loose another battle cry and dashed forward. She managed to seal off one tenketsu in the man's shoulder due to the surprise lunge, before the jounin used his superior strength to grab her small arm and throw her like a judo throw.

The two brothers stood on the side and were about to rush in to help, when Hanabi's voice broke through loud and clear. "Stay out, this is my fight."

"Yeah, this is her fight, you traitorous pieces of shit," the jounin taunted.

"This coming from a missing nin," Kouzo muttered to his brother. He then turned around to make sure all of the women were safe.

Surprisingly to Hanabi, none of the women backed away from him in fear, which meant that he and his brother did not participate in the capturing of the slaves. For some odd reason, she felt a lot better about that.

Hanabi stared at the Kumo missing-nin, the veins in her eyes pulsing with chakra. At an unseen signal, the jounin rushed forward, his hands blazing with electricity.

"Raiton: Shurai (Lightning Release: Lightning Strike)!"

Hanabi knew right away that touching his hands would be suicide. Instead, she waited until he was right in front of her before snaking her hands around to close off as many tenketsu points as she could along both arms. Her attacks caused him to stumble, and he blindly swung his arms at her.

Unluckily for her, he clipped her side, and Hanabi fell to the ground screaming as the electricity coursed through her. Following that, the man made to hit her again with his lightning-encased arm, but the closed off tenketsu points forced his jutsu to stop working. Instead he pulled out a kunai to try to end her life. It seems that in his bloodlust, he forgot about his own goal.

When Hanabi had started screaming, both Den and Kouzo spun around. Then they saw the missing-nin pull out a kunai, and they knew there was nothing they could do. After all, they were at least fifteen feet away from the two, and they were not ninja.

The ex-Kumo shinobi then stabbed at Hanabi's neck. The knife slid through skin, and warm blood splashed onto his crazed face.

-

Naruto jumped over the railing of the top floor. His head was looking down at the ground of the first floor, and he prepared for the impact.

_Thump!_

His feet smashed into the pavement, before he turned it into a roll to absorb most of the damage. However, he was still a bit unsteady. He took a few minutes to steady himself before moving on.

Just as he reached the open foyer area, his trained shinobi eyes took in everything there and he immediately analyzed the information.

'_Dead bodies, two big guys protecting the slaves, Kumo nin fighting Hanabi..._'

The Kumo nin then struck Hanabi with his lightning technique, which Naruto did not hear the name of. Naruto was already dashing forward when this happened. However, when the man pulled out a kunai and slashed it at Hanabi's throat, he strained his muscles for an extra burst of speed.

The kunai went right through the back of Naruto's shirt and into his back. Blood spurted out and hit the ex-Kumo nin's face. The two brothers off to the side, along with the now-freed women stared in shock.

Naruto gritted his teeth through the pain, before backhanding the man with his metal gauntlets. He pushed himself up and reached behind his back, pulling out the kunai lodged in his back.

"Fuck," he muttered while he stared at the blood-coated kunai. Blood seemed to soak into his clothes, and he could feel himself getting light-headed from the loss of blood.

A sizzling sound alerted everyone that Naruto's wound had closed. They all looked on in shock.

"The wound is closed, but I'm still low on blood. I'm going to need a blood pill," Naruto muttered.

"Raiton: Raigeki (Lightning Release: Lightning Strike)!" The ex-Kumo nin had gotten up, and while everyone was focused on Naruto, started up a jutsu. Two bolts of lightning were shot out of the chakra-made cloud above them at the ground Naruto was standing on.

The ground exploded, and Naruto was flung away. He landed with a crack, as his shoulder was dislocated on impact. He got up slowly again and turned to face the man. He stumbled unsteadily before locking eyes with the man.

His hands started up a series of hand seals.

"Katon: Kuro Karyuu Endan (Black Fire Dragon Flame Projectile)!"

A demonic-looking dragon made of black flames came out of Naruto's mouth. This was an S-rank technique he learned from the scroll that the Kyuubi had given him. While he was now strong enough to do the jutsu without hand seals, it took away around 85 percent of his chakra, and it came out weaker than what it would be if he did use hand seals.

Naruto swept his hand towards the enemy and the dragon rushed at him. The ex-Kumo nin, never having seen such a frightening technique, blanched at the sight and turned to run. It was too bad for him that the moment he turned around, the dragon overcame him and burned his body to ash.

The freed women, Hanabi, and the brothers stared at him in shock again, since the women and the brothers had never seen such a powerful jutsu, or in Hanabi's case, never seen Naruto use that technique.

After seeing the now-dead jounin's ash fall to the ground, Naruto collapsed to his knees. He panted a few times before slumping over. Hanabi painfully got up and hobbled over to her best friend and teammate.

-

"Alright, an hour has passed," she growled to Kakashi as she left. "I'll going to go find them now."

"Alright then Hana," he said flippantly, while reading his favorite orange book.

Hana immediately took off, heading in the direction she sent her students in.

Using her Inuzuka senses, she smelled blood - a lot of blood - spilled on the ground. Hurrying her pace, she soon reached the mansion. She looked around and saw the bodies of several guards near the front gate and several more hidden in the bushes. Deducing that Naruto and Hanabi changed this from a scout mission to an assault mission, she jumped over the iron gates that surrounded Gato's home before rushing towards the mansion itself. She burst in through the front door and saw one of her students lying on the ground, as if he were dead.

"Naruto!"

-

All present, save Naruto who was too tired to move, swung their heads around.

"Hana-sensei!" Hanabi cried.

"Hanabi! What happened to Naruto? Is he ok?"

"Yeah, I think he's just tired. All of his wounds healed right away, and he said that he needed a blood pill," Hanabi informed her teacher.

"Shit, I left my supplies back at Tazuna's place. Give him to me, and I'll take him back."

"What about the women?" Hanabi asked, gesturing to the scantily clad and desperate-looking women standing off to the side.

"What about them?"

"Well, Gato used them as slaves, and I couldn't just let them rot down there, so I freed them!"

"We are not authorized to return them to their homes! If their families are in Wave though, then we might be able to help! I doubt that all of these women are from the town though, since Tazuna would've mentioned it if Gato stole the women of Wave."

"We can't just do _nothing_!" Hanabi argued back.

Sighing, Hana told her student, "Look, I have to bring Naruto back to Tazuna's. Try to get those two big guys over there to help lead the women back to town. We'll decide what to do with them after Naruto's condition is stable."

"Hai, sensei."

Hana quickly draped Naruto's arm over her shoulder and left.

-

'_Oh, Naruto. I hope you'll be okay. I knew I shouldn't have let you two go by yourselves,_' Hana thought worriedly.

Her arms were burning from the stress of holding Naruto, who was heavier than her. It didn't help that Tazuna's house was 60 miles away. She felt the signs of chakra exhaustion coming up to her, since she had been using it to augment her speed for the entire run so far.

'_Just a little bit more,_' she thought desperately.

The moment that thought crossed her mind, she heard the sounds of metal ringing against metal and immediately tensed.

"Oh Kensei, how I envy your luck," her acute ears heard the perverted whispers of a man. Some giggling followed.

Hurrying forward, Naruto still draped over her back, she approached the man she knew was Kakashi.

"...what'd you say Sasuke?"

"Kakashi!" Hana managed to gasp out. "Naruto was injured! He needs help!"

Kakashi immediately stopped what he was doing and spun around on the branch he was perched on.

"What happened?" he asked professionally.

"He got stabbed, but his wounds have already been healed. He just needs a blood pill, since he lost so much blood. You're going to have to check out Gatou's mansion too, since my other student has freed a lot of women from slavery, and they have no where to go," Hana managed to bite out.

"What about you?" Kakashi asked, concerned for his fellow jounin.

"Fine, just tired..."

"Alright." Kakashi turned towards his shocked students. "Sasuke! Bring Hana back into the house and put here back in her bed! Sakura, take care of Naruto. Give him this blood pill!" He flicked a small red capsule at her. "Eiji, get me something of Hana's other student's. I need one of her personal belongings to track her," he commanded to his students before he summoned a dog.

"Pakkun. I need you to lead me somewhere."

When Eiji came back with a comb, Kakashi waved it in front of Pakkun's nose, and Pakkun immediately took off.

Right before leaving to follow the small dog, Kakashi turned around to address Eiji. "Don't leave the house unless you are attacked. If you are, then take Tsunami, Inari, and Tazuna away and keep yourselves safe, understand?" Without waiting for an answer, Kakashi leapt off.

-

As soon as Hana had left, Hanabi spun around to address the brothers.

"Den, Kouzo. Do you know how Gatou managed to ship all these women to this mansion?"

"Yes Hanabi-sama," Den answered. "He brought the women to Wave on boats, and from the boats, took a wagon or cart to this mansion."

"Do you know where he keeps his transportation?"

"Of course, Hanabi-sama. This way." Den immediately turned towards one of the doors in the foyer. He yanked the door open before hurrying in.

Hanabi turned back towards Kouzo. "Guard these women, understand?"

"Yes Hanabi-sama," Kouzo acknowledged.

Hanabi trotted after her servant. After leading her down a long hallway, Den stopped at a door. He opened it and stepped outside, where over fifteen wagons and carts of all sizes were stored.

"Get the horses and get them ready for departure. After you do that, go find the kitchens and grab as much food as you can."

Den nodded before hurrying off to do as his master wished.

An hour later, the transportation was ready, and Den was in the kitchen grabbing all non-perishables and stuffing it into several packs. When he was done, he hurried back towards the wagons and carts to find most of them filled with shivering women. He distributed the packs among the carts, before going back inside to find some blankets. It took him quite a while, but he eventually found enough blankets that didn't have blood on them.

Soon, the procession of horses were off, trotting through the beaten path.

-

_Thump, thump, thump._

Kakashi's beating heart sped up as Pakkun called back to him.

"We're almost at the source of the scent."

His pace quickened.

"I hear hooves and smell horses," Pakkun called back again.

True to his word, Kakashi himsefl soon heard the clip-clop trot of horses.

Stopping above the trees, he peered down, only to find many groups of women sitting in various wagons and carts. One man stood near the front, and one man stood near the back, as if they were guarding it.

Thinking that these were the women, and uninformed about the presence of the extra two men, his mind logically thought that Hana's other student was defeated by these men.

'_What lax security,_' he thought, before pulling out two kunai. He quickly brought his arm back and unleashed the kunai, only to be interrupted by two other kunai.

He jumped out of the trees in front of the leading man and got into a stance, when a shout made him pause.

"Kakashi-san!"

Hanabi appeared in front of him, unharmed and conscious.

"Hanabi?" he questioned, his head tilted in confusion.

"These two men have sworn their allegiance to me, so you do not need to worry about them," Hanabi explained.

Kakashi paused, before nodding in acceptance. "Very well. Now, do you know what you're doing? Traveling by carriage to town is not a good idea. It's at least fifty miles away."

"Yes I know, but I have no other way to get all these women back quickly and safely..." she trailed off.

"Yes, that is quite a dilemma," Kakashi commented, before striking a thinking pose. His chin rested on his right palm, for a moment before he perked up. "I have just the idea. Kuchiyose!" His hands blurred through several hand seals, and he followed that up by biting his thumb and slamming his hand onto the ground.

A giant puff of smoke appeared.

"Hm? What did you call us for, Kakashi?" a deep voice called out.

"Eh, these women need help, and you were the only ones I could think of that could possibly bring of them back to town."

"A steed? You called us to be your steed?" A large gray dog stepped out of the quickly dissipating smoke. It had scars running all over its body, and looked more like a wolf than a mere dog. Behind him was an entire army of dogs. They were of different colors, like white, black, brown, or gray. Many of them had scars running along their bodies, and some even more body armor. Every single one of them was at least three feet tall at the shoulder. The dog who called out was five feet, and it was apparent he was the leader.

"Yeah, sorry, Dak," he replied, embarrassed.

Dak let loose a long suffering sigh. "Alright, but you're going to owe me. You're going to buy us enough meat to satisfy us completely!"

Kakashi started, since enough meat to satisfy an army of wolf-like dogs would take out his entire paycheck for at least a year. Even Gamabunta, his sensei's sensei's boss summon, did not drink enough sake to damage Jiraiya's money that badly.

"Very well," he replied. Deep inside, he was crying about how he wouldn't be able to afford any of Jiraiya-sama's new Icha Icha books.

Soon, the women were safely strapped to the army of dogs.

"Let's go!" Dak yelled, and they started running back towards the village.

Kakashi sent a glance at Hanabi before following after Dak and his pack. Hanabi was about to follow Kakashi when she remembered something. Her two servants were not shinobi, and only shinobi could keep up with the dogs.

"Do not worry, we will follow after you," Den told her.

"Very well," Hanabi said. And with that, she departed.

"So, how long is this going to take?" Kouzo asked his brother, the pack on his back shifted to the other shoulder.

His reply was a shrug of the shoulders.

-

The next morning, Naruto groggily pushed himself onto his elbows. He was laying on a bed in an unfamiliar room. Looking around, he saw several pictures of Tazuna and his family.

'_So I'm in Tazuna's house..._'

**About time you woke up. You have disgraced me, getting yourself hurt like that. That man was so weak, you should've demolished him without getting a single injury.**

'_Of course, Kyuubi-sama, but I had to save my teammate._'

**And your point is? You don't need to save her by throwing yourself in front of her. You could've cut that man's arm off, or blocked his strike without your own claws. I did not offer you all those scrolls so you could get yourself killed in a fight with a nobody.**

'_Please...please forgive me. I acted without thinking. I will endeavor to train myself much harder. I will even participate in the training with my Kage Bunshins._'

**Good. If you make one more mistake...**

'_Yes Kyuubi-sama._'

Naruto finally got out of the bed. He quickly unsealed some of his clothes from the seal on his right hand before slipping them on, seeing as how his old clothes were damaged and bloody.

Suddenly, a shrill scream pierced the air.

Without hesitation, Naruto rushed out the door and down the stairs. There he saw how Tsunami was being approached by two samurai. Both had their swords out of their sheathes, and he could tell they meant business.

Just as they lunged at Tsunami, Naruto slid in between her and the attacking samurai and blocked the strikes with his extended claws. The two men looked on in surprise, before their shocked countenance turned to one of abject horror.

Their horror was apparent when their sword arms fell off. Both started screaming loudly, until a quick stab to their neck silenced them.

Without looking back, Naruto dashed to the bridge, where he knew a final confrontation would take place.

-

'_Oh, how did it come to this?_' a pale Sakura wailed in her mind.

_Flashback_

_The day started off with Sakura watching over the sleeping Naruto. Although she did not like him at all, he was still an injured fellow Konoha nin. Sasuke had dragged Hana back to her room yesterday and laid her on a bed, so that she could rest. The young Hyuuga girl arrived later on in the evening with Team Seven's sensei. Both looked tired and chose to go to their rooms to get some sleep.  
_

_Now, breakfast was soon ready, and the members of Team Seven and Hana and her Hyuuga student quickly assembled in the kitchen, where Tsunami served them the food. Although she was on a diet, Sakura had to admit, the food was good, considering that the town was so poor and Tsunami did not have much food to make use of._

_"How are you feeling, Hana-san?" Tsunami's kind voice rang out._

_"I'm a lot better, thank you," Hana responded._

_"What about you Hanabi-chan?" Tsunami once again asked._

_"Fine," Hanabi grunted._

_After breakfast was over, Kakashi told his students that there was a good chance that they would be attacked again sometime soon, so that all of them would start going to the bridge._

_"What about Naruto?" Sakura asked._

_Kakashi's reply came as a shrug. "I guess he will stay here, since he is still sleeping. Now let's go!"_

_Soon, Team Seven and the two members of Team SDF arrived at the bridge. They were only there for an hour before a thick fog started to roll in._

_"Tazuna! Get the workers out of here!" Kakashi yelled._

_The old bridge-builder did as asked without hesitation._

_"Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)!"_

_A great gust of wind blew the chakra-infested fog away, quickly revealing Zabuza and five chuunin-level shinobi.  
_

_"So, Kakashi!" Zabuza called out. "How do you want to this?"_

_"Me and you Zabuza!" he yelled back. "Hana! Get those two chuunin!" Hana acquiesced to his orders, due to him being the more experienced shinobi. "Hanabi, get those two! Eiji, Sasuke, you get the last one! Sakura, protect Tazuna!"_

_The opponents separated to different parts of the bridge, where they could fight it out._

_End Flashback_

And this is where Sakura found herself. She was watching her two teammates, her sensei, some jounin she was not too familiar with, and that jounin's student all fight, while she, top kunoichi of the year was stuck guarding Tazuna.

'_Am- Am I really that weak, that I need to stand guard while my team is busy fighting chuunin? Am I really a liability?_' she thought, thinking back to the moment in training where Sasuke had called her a liability for being so weak and useless.

-

Kakashi and Zabuza stared at each other, waiting for the other to move first. A minute passed before Kakashi blurred out of existence.

Zabuza blinked and immediately ducked. It was good thing too, or he would've been decapitated by Kakashi's kunai. Zabuza turned around and swung his large zanbatou around, cutting the Konoha nin in half. Unfortunately, it turned into a puddle of water, indicating that it was a Mizu Bunshin.

Kakashi once again appeared behind Zabuza and stabbed his back, who copied Kakashi by becoming a puddle of water.

Kakashi immediately darted to the left, avoiding a giant downward blow from Zabuza, Crouching, he stuck his foot out to try to sweep Zabuza, but the ex-Mist nin jumped over the foot. Completing the spin, Kakashi then struck at Zabuza's abdomen, and the missing-nin grunted at the impact. Without reprisal, Kakashi followed that blow up with one to the chin, which sent Zabuza flying several feet back. As soon as he hit the ground, he turned once more into a puddle of water.

Quickly becoming annoyed at Zabuza's use of the Mizu Bunshin, he quickly pulled his headband up, revealing his now-activated Sharingan eye.

"Ooh, the big bad Sharingan Kakashi decides to pull out his secret weapon," Zabuza taunted.

Kakashi ignored the taunt, and instead bit his thumb to draw blood. Slamming his bloodied hand upon the ground, he shouted a terse "Kuchiyose!" A puff of smoke appeared.

"Grab Zabuza!" After the summoned dogs popped out of the earth and held onto Zabuza, Kakashi shouted, "You're not getting out of this alive, Zabuza!"

-

Hana stood in front of two Iwa missing-nin. Both were rather plain-looking, like people you would see on the streets and never remember about again.

"Doton: Sekkai Gusoku (Earth Release: Stone Armor)!"

Huge mounds of the earth started to gather around the two men, and soon the rocks formed a full bodysuit. The Iwa missing-nin looked like golems rather than humans, with the way that no skin could be seen.

"Doton: Sekifu (Earth Release: Stone Axe)!" The one on the left, who she mentally named Nin 1, stuck his hand out, and some of the stones from his armor coalesced around his hand to form an axe.

"Oh man," she moaned.

The one on the right, Nin 2, held his hand up and yelled, "Doton: Sekyari (Earth Release: Stone Spear)!" Rather than having an axe form in his hand, a large stone spear appeared. It was six feet tall and at least 200 pounds!

"Oh kami-sama, this sucks!" she moaned again.

However, just because she was annoyed by the two, did not mean she could not take them.

"Gatsuuga!" She jumped into the air and started spinning. Her spinning soon made her look like a frightening tornado.

She smashed into the spot where the two Iwa missing-nin were just standing. Hana started her spinning again, but suddenly halted when her arm smashed into the stone spear of Nin 2.

Biting back a cry from the pain, she was surprised that the stone spear was broken so easily.

'_Wow, Iwa must have had low standards to pass a shinobi who doesn't have enough chakra to make a strong spear..._'

The man in front of her cursed, before sticking his hand out again. Not wanting to let the man make another spear, Hana dashed forward, poised like a dog, and leapt into the air.

She let loose a fierce warcry, startling the man out of his concentration, before jumping onto him. She stuck her enhanced claws into his neck, spraying...dirt?

"Fucking Tsuchi Bunshins (Earth Clones)!"

Her sense went off, and she immediately jumped up into the air. Looking down she saw Nin 1 staring back up at her, axe extended.

"Shit! Trap!"

The two Iwa missing-nin had apparently set up a trap for her. One would force her into the air, while the other would attack, since she couldn't change her trajectory in midair. Nin 2, the one with the spear, appeared in front of her, still in the air, and began to unleash a flurry of stabs.

'_I'll just break his spear again,_' Hana thought confidently. She pushed the thrusting spear aside with her right arm and chopped on it with her left hand. Unfortunately, all that came of that was an injured hand.

The two landed on the ground, one standing upright next to his partner, the second crouched over, holding her injured hand.

"You are no match for us," the voice came from Nin 1. It was a bit muffled due to the earth covering his face.

Hana snarled in response, letting loose her more bestial aspect of her personality. "I'll take you fuckers down!"

Quickly popping a painkiller pill in her mouth (as all jounin are required to have them when they go on missions), Hana rushed forward, claws extended. The two nin stood there calmly waiting for her to reach them. However, when she was within six steps of the duo, she put extra chakra into her step, giving her an extra boost of speed. She disappeared from their sight and reappeared within their guards. She was too close too properly defend against, and as a result, they bore the full damage Hana dealt out.

"Rrargh!" Hana let loose a roar just as she collided with the two Iwa-nin. Both Iwa nin were skewered by Hana's sharp nails.

Both men gasped in surprise, until Hana pulled her hands out of their chests. The two missing nin gasped once more and shuddered, before falling over dead.

-

Hanabi was locked in a staring match with the two Kumo missing nin.

"More Kumo nin? That jounin from earlier was so annoying," Hanabi taunted.

One of the two Kumo nin suddenly snorted. "You escaped Fujiwara-sensei? You must be pretty good. We'll just knock you out and bring you back so he can kill you. He _does _hate it when his prey escapes himl."

"Fujiwara? That's his name? Well, anyway, he's not going to be doing _anything_ to anyone anymore. He's dead, after all."

"What?! You killed Fujiwara?" the other Kumo nin shouted. "I'll kill you!" he shouted, letting loose his killing intent. If Hanabi had been a normal genin, she would've been crushed by the killing intent he was letting loose.

"Amari, calm down. She's a Hyuuga, and we can bring her back to Kumo so we can be pardoned, so she can't be killed," the first Kumo-nin said, trying to soothe his distraught friend.

"But Aisawa, she killed sensei! We can't let her leave her alive for this!" Amari shouted, obviously distressed and angered by the loss of his sensei.

"Shut up! Amari, have you forgotten? We were forced to leave Kumo and leave behind our family and friends. And for what? Some stupid cat girl?! He decides that since some girl refused to sleep with him that she had to die! And then he drags us into it! It's all his fault!"

Hanabi, while at first happy about the duo's arguing, soon grew annoyed when the two decided to turn away from her. She summoned her rapier, and without warning, lunged straight at Amari, the distraught chuunin.

"He was right to do it! That bitch cat girl dared to ref- Gurk!" Amari looked down at his stomach, and saw the tip of a blade protruding from it.

Hanabi pulled her rapier back, and Amari immediately fell to the ground, blood leaking from his mouth.

"Fu- fucking...b- b- bitch," he muttered, before closing his eyes and succumbing to the darkness that is death.

"Amari!" Aisawa yelled. Now his best friend, albeit his crazy, dedicated-beyond-belief-to-his-psycho-sensei best friend, was now dead.

Now it was Aisawa's turn to let loose his killing intent. Once again, Hanabi shrugged it off as if it were nothing, which to her, really _was _nothing.

Hanabi smirked. She managed to kill one of the chuunin, and infuriated the other. Anger made one unfocused, thus leading to sloppy attacks. And she planned on taking advantage of this fact.

"Forget it! I'm not taking you back to Kumo! I'll take your decapitated head back!" he spat angrily.

Hanabi made a "come get it" gesture, further enraging the already angry man.

Aisawa growled and charged forward, kunai in hand. He stabbed, and Hanabi blocked it with her rapier. Aisawa then punched with his free hand, and when Hanabi took a step back to avoid it, he spun around and let loose a roundhouse kick. Due to his longer legs, her step back was still in reach of his kick, thus knocking her back several meters. Hanabi hit the ground with a roll and came back with a spring. She looked annoyed that her clothes were dirty.

Sending chakra to her eyes, Hanabi then activated her Byakugan. She sent her rapier away and fell into the normal Jyuuken stance.

"You are in my field of divination," she announced. "Hakke Rokujuuyonshou (Eight Divination Signs, Sixty-Four Palms of the Hand)!"

She rushed forward.

"2!"

"4!"

"8!"

"16!"

"32!"

"64!"

The strikes closed the man's tenketsu points, making him immobile. This technique, while not uncommon among Hyuuga shinobi, was rare for a Hyuuga genin. After all, this was a very difficult technique. However, Hanabi added one last strike to it.

"Death Blow!"

The strike was to the heart. Aisawa's eyes widened, before blood spurted out of his mouth. He gurgle for a moment before collapsing to the ground like a puppet whose strings have been cut.

Although Hanabi did not enjoy using it, she recognized it as a necessary evil.

Another reason for not using this too often _was _the fact that she was a genin. Her chakra supply was not big enough to use such a powerful technique multiple times. If she was at full strength, the max she could do in a day would be three, and that would already put a lot of stress on her body.

Hanabi collapsed to her knees, tired out from her battle, both physically and mentally.

'_Two more deaths on my hands,_' she thought while staring at her ironically clean hands.

-

Eiji and Sasuke were fighting the last chuunin, who was grinning evilly at the thought of fighting two green genin. Their eyes were locked onto the chuunin's eyes, until Eiji's gaze drifted upwards towards the shinobi's hitae-ate.

He gasped, and Sasuke glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "What?" he asked.

"Y- you're a Konoha nin!" Eiji gasped.

"You got that right. I see you two are genin from Konoha. Oh boy, I can't wait to tear you two apart. Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Yajirobee! I'm going to kill you now!"

Yajirobee suddenly disappeared from sight. Sasuke figured out where he was, due to the fact that the chuunin had a fist buried in his stomach.

"Ugh!" Sasuke groaned as he hit the ground several meters away. Eiji was shocked at the man's speed, and thus did not see the incoming blow to his head. Yajirobee's kick sent him flying sideways to a tree, where he lay, moaning.

Sasuke slowly pushed himself to hit feet while Yajirobee looked on hungrily. Sasuke slowly inched his hand to his shuriken pouch, and when he felt ready, grabbed several and threw them as hard and fast as he could.

Yajirobee threw his own shuriken, knocking Sasuke's out of the air with a clang.

"Is that it? I expected more," Yajirobee taunted. "An Uchiha who can't use his Sharingan! That's priceless! Maybe I can carve those eyes out of your head and offer it to one of the other Hidden Villages! I bet I'd get great money for that! You know, I bet you'd put up a better fight if I did this!"

Yajirobee threw one of his shuriken at the moaning Eiji, and the metal sunk into the genin's arm, eliciting a sharp scream.

Sasuke screamed in anger and dashed at Yajirobee, only for him to get smacked in the head by Yajirobee's foot. Sasuke fell to the ground with a dazed look in his eyes.

"Another one then." Yajirobee let loose another shuriken, and this one struck Eiji's other arm. Another scream followed.

Sasuke unleashed a killing intent that was well beyond a level of a genin's.

Yajirobee was understandably scared, but refused to show it. Instead, he threw another two shuriken, each one hitting one of Eiji's legs. Eiji screamed himself hoarse.

The killing intent increased, and Yajirobee, feeling a tad suicidal, threw one last shuriken. This one nailed Eiji right in the neck, spraying his blood everywhere. He was dead before Sasuke could do anything.

Sasuke's killing intent nearly tripled, and Yajirobee felt himself struggling to breath. Sasuke's eyes opened, and the Sharingan was revealed.

"I'm going to _kill _you! Katon: Goukakyuu!" The flame swept over Yajirobee, and the Konoha missing-nin screamed as the flames burned his skin off. It was a slow and painful death indeed.

After setting Yashirobee on fire, Sasuke's Sharingan eyes died down, and he tiredly crawled towards his dead teammate.

"I'm s- sorry. Eiji. For- forgive me for letting you down!" Sasuke cried his heart out over the loss of the only person he could call friend. "I- I won't let your sacrifice be in vain!" he yelled, getting back up and wiping the tears away furiously. "I'll become strong, not only to avenge my family, but to avenge _you_!"

And with that, Uchiha Sasuke, the last loyal Uchiha, walked away with the dead body of his friend in his arms.

-

Kakashi heard several screams, but ignored them all. Instead he chose to concentrate on his sole original technique. Chidori, an A-rank assassination jutsu.

Ushi (Ox), U (Rabbit), Saru (Monkey).

Kakashi's hand suddenly glowed with lightning. The sounds of a thousand birds chirping rang through the bridge.

"Chidori!" he shouted with all the might he could muster. Dashing forward, he ran as fast as he could with his arm extended.

Just as he was about to strike Zabuza's heart, two blurs appeared in front of him. A big blue man with gills stood in front of Zabuza, while a girl dressed in a kimono stood behind the blue man and in front of Zabuza.

The blue man stuck his zanbatou in the ground, and Kakashi knew that he was going to hit it. At his speed, there was no way he could stop himself.

Grunting in exertion, Kakashi collided with the zanbatou. Fully expecting the weapon to break, he was surprised when all of the chakra in his hand disappeared the moment his Chidori struck the blade.

"How do you like that? My Samehada absorbs chakra! She wants more!" the blue man shouted in glee.

The dogs holding Zabuza dispelled, and the girl caught the falling Zabuza.

"Thanks for the save, Kisame," he muttered.

"That's nothing Zabu!"

A low growl reached Kakashi's ears, and he could not help but think that this was a weird pair.

"Some kid gave me some money to quit Gato's service!" the man now named Kisame shouted aloud. "So that means I'm not an enemy," he directed at Kakashi, who was subtly reaching for a weapon. Turning back to Zabuza, he said, "We have enough money to last several decades!"

"Yeah, but I refuse to just stop my mission. I was hired to eliminate Tazuna, and I will do just that!"

"Oh come on, Zabu! You know Gato is not going to pay us for the job, so why bother?" Kisame asked.

"It doesn't matter!" Zabuza picked up his fallen zanbatou and charged at Kakashi. Kisame and the kimono-clad girl stood and watched Zabuza.

"Hah!" Zabuza yelled as he swung his large blade at Kakashi, who jumped back to avoid the attack. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Kakashi darted to the left and unleashed a swarm of kunai. The kunai streaked towards the surprised Zabuza, but the man ducked behind his massive zanbatou.

"Is that all you have, Kakashi?" Zabuza taunted once more.

With his hands behind his back, Kakashi sighed and responded. "No it isn't. Allow me to show you! Suiton: Suiryuudan (Water Release: Water Dragon Projectile)!"

A large dragon made of water arose from the sea nearby. With a roar, it charged Zabuza and smashed into him, sending him flying. Zabuza hit the ground and slid several meters before coming to a stop.

Kisame stood off to the side and shook his head. "C'mon, Zabu! You can do better than that!"

Zabuza growled again at Kisame's use of his "nickname". Picking up his sword once more, Zabuza started running at Kakashi again.

A yellow blur appeared in front of the approaching Zabuza and a loud clang was heard.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked unbelievingly.

Ignoring the jounin, Naruto turned towards the blue-skinned man. "Kisame-san. I did not expect to meet up with you so soon."

"Hey Zabu! This is the kid that paid us. Since he paid us, that technically means he's our boss. And as our boss, he's telling us to stop fighting, right?" Kisame directed his question towards Naruto.

"Yes, as your new boss, you will stop fighting Kakashi and leave."

Zabuza grumbled before attaching his zanbatou to his back. He walked back to his two companions.

All of a sudden, a weary Hana broke through the mist. "Huh? What's with all the non-fighting? Naruto?"

Kisame decided to speak up. "The blond kid paid us, so we no longer work for Gato."

Hana turned to Naruto with an upraised eyebrow. "And where did you get the money from?"

Naruto looked back at her and shrugged. "Gato's place. I grabbed all the money he had in the vaults and gave 20 percent of it to Kisame," he replied, motioning towards the blue-skinned man.

They were once again interrupted by the arrival of Hanabi. "Sensei, Naruto," she sighed in relief, totally ignoring Kakashi and the missing nin. "I have eliminated my enemies," she reported.

"Good job, Hanabi," Hana complimented her student.

Looking up, the small Hyuuga girl finally noticed Kisame and his two friends and slipped into her battle stance. Hana quickly interrupted Hanabi and explained the situation.

Kakashi then chose to say something. "Can you try and locate my students and our client? I can't see anything through this mist." he directed his question to Hanabi.

Speaking of the mist, Zabuza remembered to cancel the jutsu. The mist quickly dissipated, revealing Sakura and Tazuna, looking around frantically, and Sasuke carrying something big in his arms. As he got closer, it became apparent what the big bundle was. Sakura, who had approached the group and Sasuke with Tazuna, choked. "E-Eiji!" she cried out, tears coming to her eyes.

The big bridgebuilder closed his eyes and bowed his head. The group stayed silent as Sasuke finally approached the group. "I eliminated the chuunin and unlocked my Sharingan, but I failed to save..." Here Sasuke choked on his words. "I-I failed to s-save him." Sasuke closed his eyes in pain. A tear seemed to squeeze out of one of his eyes.

Kakashi sighed and looked up at the sky. '_Another teammate I failed to save..._'

-

The mourning for Eiji by the Konoha was soon interrupted by the sneering voice of a small businessman. "Tsk, you weak ninjas can't even do as you are paid to do. It's a good thing I didn't plan on paying you anyway."

Kisame nudged Zabuza in the side and whispered, "See? What'd I tell you?"

The businessman, continuing the standard 'you-are-no-match-for-me' speech that all villains seemed to love to give. Sasuke, angered by the loss of his friend, roared and charged ahead, cutting off Gato mid-speech.

Gato paused, looking at the quickly approaching genin. "Hey, do your jobs, kill them all!" he yelled to the mercenaries behind him.

With a bloodlusting battle cry, the mercenaries ran at the shinobi in their way.

Ignoring the feebles cries of "Sasuke!" from the pink-haired girl, Naruto soon joined Sasuke in his dash towards the mercenaries. Not far behind him them was Kisame, who had yet to see any action, and a girl dressed in a kimono with a hunter nin mask attached to her face.

The first to clash with the mercenaries was Sasuke, whose anger and newly unlocked Sharingan gave him power he had never experienced before. He roared, and his kunai flashed through the air, slitting a throat. The blood splashed his face and his shirt, but the young genin ignored it and turned to the mercenary behind him. He blocked the downward blow and danced around the blade, sneaking into the man's guard and slipping the kunai in between his ribs. The enemy gasped, and Sasuke pulled out his weapon, causing the man to slump over lifelessly.

Naruto was next to reach the fray. Without hesitation, his claws pierced necks, stomachs, and even an occasional eye. He left a path of carnage as he danced through their ranks. The mercenaries, seeing this young boy slaughter so many of them so quickly and efficiently, soon scattered.

"No mercy, no hesitation," he muttered under his breath.

A quick hand seal and five Kage Bunshins appeared. "Eliminate them all," he commanded his clones. Without a word, the Kage Bunshins dashed after the fleeing mercenaries and speared them with their claws. Naruto watched his clones perform for a few seconds before joining in himself.

"Blood!" Kisame yelled as he slammed into the closest mercenary. He swung his zanbatou, Samehada, around his head once, and four men soon found themselves missing a head. He laughed maniacally, head thrown back, sharp teeth gleaming against the sunlight. "I want to see a bloodbath!"

The kimono-clad hunter-nin, rather than enter the fray like others, stayed on the outskirts of the battle. With her unnoticeable senbons, she acted as long range support, not that anyone _needed _the support (not counting the mercenaries). Many men fell to the ground, riddled with senbons.

Exactly three minutes later, not a single mercenary was left breathing.

Gato found himself the recipient of several glares, and fell to the ground on his ass. He tried to crawl away, but the killing intent unleashed by the shinobi stopped him.

"P-please, I've got m-m-money! I'll pay you w-w-whatever you want!" Gatou stuttered wildly. He was hoping that they would spare him, so that he could later call on his second army at his mansion.

Naruto deciding that now was a good time to inform the man of the loss of his assets, spoke up. "Actually, you have no money. I took it all," Naruto informed him. "The men in your mansion are all dead, too, so don't bother trying to trick us into sparing you."

"What?!" the small businessman screamed in disbelief. His money? His precious money, all gone? That's impossible! "N-no! That's impossible," he mumbled.

"No it's not impossible. Now, allow me to show you what it means to be a shinobi!" Naruto switched modes and quickly summoned his violin. He started to play a song. The song, which sounded sad and melancholy to the listeners, soon sped up in intensity. "Magen: Jigoku Gouka no Jutsu (Demon Illusion: Hellfire Technique)," he whispered. The short man suddenly started to scream wildly and ran around in circles.

"I'm burning! I'm burning! Put me out!" Gato yelled crazily, before jumping off the bridge and into the sea. When the man didn't resurface for five minutes, Naruto decided that he was dead and turned back towards his companions.

-

He was in shock. Really. When he had hired those Konoha ninjas so long ago, he had never expected them to stay when they found out about the real level of danger. He was wrong. They chose to stay. That put a smile on his face for the rest of the week. When they were attacked for the second time, he was scared shitless. The killing intent (is that what those shinobi called it?) nearly stopped his old heart, and he distinctly remembered feeling that he would not make it out of of this alive. But he would try. After all, this was for his country.

He could still remember the shaking of his hands when he tried to drink some of his sake. He even spilled some of the sacred liquid on himself due to his unsteady hands. When those two boys, Eiji and Sasuke, saved their sensei (and subsequently saved him), he was relieved. Perhaps he _would _be able to finish the bridge and bring prosperity back to the land of Wave. When the shinobi reached his home, his daughter happily greeted them and lead them in. He was once again in his happy environment. Tomorrow he would begin his bridge again under the supervision of those ninja.

When that second team of Konoha nin arrived, he was even more grateful. His chances of completing the bridge just increased, after all. When the two students of the second team disappeared, he grew worried. They were children, and they might've been hurt. Gato might've kidnapped them and tortured them, or worse. He went up to their sensei, the one with the red markings on her face, and asked about them. She told him that they were on a scouting mission.

Three hours later, and the sensei returned with one of her students. His clothes were soaked in blood, yet Sakura, the pink-haired girl, told him that his wounds were already healed. Oh, the wonders of being a shinobi, with all their fancy tricks and techniques!

The next day, they got up and started on another day at the bridge. When Kakashi told him to evacuate the workers, he did as he was asked of immediately. The moment all of his workers left, he returned to the bridge to see out the battle. After all, he was responsible for this!

When the fog disappeared, and Sasuke appeared with that cheerful teammate of his, he was heartbroken. That never-say-never boy died an early death. It was his fault. Gato then showed up, with an army of men. He felt true fear again. Surely the shinobi were no match for this army, since they were mostly tired out from fighting each other, right?

He was proven wrong again when four (FOUR!) shinobi alone tore them apart with ease. The massacre didn't even take more than five minutes! After they were dealt with, that blond boy with the whiskers approached Gato, and he did some of his fancy ninja tricks again. Gato started screaming and soon jumped off the bridge, as if he was on fire. Surely that was impossible, right?

Now, the realization that they were free from the tyranny of Gato sunk in, and he jumped up and down in joy and tears.

-

A loud roar soon accompanied Tazuna's dance of joy. It seems that several workers caught the demise of Gato, and spread it around to the people in the village. A large crowd was gathered at the other side, and they were all cheering.

Turning towards his saviors, Tazuna bowed and thanked them. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You will never understand our appreciation for you. Come, we will prepare a party for you!" Beckoning the shinobi forward, Tazuna walked up to the crowd and announced his intentions. People soon departed for their homes to gather the necessary party materials.

"Please enjoy this party. This," Tazuna paused here, "is the Resurrection of Wave!"

-

The day after the party, Naruto decided to take some time off from training and chose to wander the village. He was walking along the streets when he bumped into a familiar acquaintance.

The two of them fell to the ground in a heap, with Naruto on top. Naruto groaned and shook his head. It took him only a moment, but he realized that his hand was on something warm and soft. Giving it an experimental squeeze, he was shocked to hear Haku moan.

He took another good look at where his hand was, before one thought flashed through his mind. '_Haku's a girl! Yes! I won't have to stab my eyes anymore!_'

"N-Naruto-kun?" the confused voice of Haku asked.

Jumping off of her immediately, Naruto tried to play it off. "Oh, Haku, please forgive me for bumping into you." He offered her a hand, and she gratefully accepted it.

"So, Naruto-kun, what are you doing?"

Naruto replied with a shrug. "Just wandering, I guess," he said.

"Oh, alright," Haku replied. "Well, I must be off. See you around!" With that, Haku walked off.

'_Women. The just don't make sense,_' Naruto thought to himself.

Deep inside his head, the laughter of a hysterical kitsune could be heard.

-

Two and a half weeks later, the bridge was finished. As soon as they were done, a large sign was put up over the arch that was above the bridge. It read, "The Great Konoha Bridge". In the center of the bridge, the denizens of Wave constructed a large metal statue of the seven Konoha shinobi.

A metal replica of Eiji and Sasuke were crouched, looking like they were about to unleash a storm of kunai and shuriken. Their third teammate, Sakura, was sitting on the base, which was four feet off the ground. Her feet were hanging off the base. Standing tall over Sasuke and Eiji were Naruto and Hanabi. The two students of Team SDF were standing with their arms crossed and their faces blank. This gave them an intimidating look. And standing tall over _them _were their senseis. Hana stood behind Naruto, and her stance made her look like she was preparing for a battle. Kakashi stood behind Hanabi, orange (well, not orange anymore; it's more like the color of metal now) book in hand. His lone visible eye was curved up in that annoying eye-smile of his.

Inscribed on that base were their names: Ayanami Eiji (R.I.P.), Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuuga Hanabi, Inuzuka Hana, Hatake Kakashi.

-

Finally, both Team SDF and Team 7 decided that it was time to head back to Konoha. Packing their things, they thanked Tsunami for her hospitality, before heading towards the exit of the village. There they saw Kisame, Zabuza, and Haku, also about to depart.

Kisame's loud voice suddenly rang out. "Oy, it's the blond brat!"

Naruto's eyebrows twitched at the nickname, but other than that, he refused to show any sign of recognizing it. Naruto continued to walk right past them, only greeting the quiet Haku with a nod. He noticed that his comrades were not following him, and turned around to see what the hold up was.

"Aren't you going to say goodbye to your friends?" Kakashi asked, with that annoying eye-smile of his.

Oh, how Naruto wanted to wipe that smirk off his face.

"Yeah, stop ignoring me," Kisame yelled, acting like a little petulant child who has been denied a favorite sweet.

Sighing, Naruto greeted the three with a simple recitation of their names. "Kisame-san. Zabuza-san. Haku...Now, can we go home already?"

Rolling her eyes, Hana acquiesced. "Alright then. We'll go home now. To make this interesting, let's make this a competition. The team that makes it back to Konoha first wins. The losers have to buy the winners a meal at a restaurant of the winners' choosing."

Kakashi agreed, although slightly hesitant. Sasuke was still in a depressed mood. The death of his friend must have hit him very hard. The same was with Sakura. Neither were acting like they usually did, and Kakash decided that this contest would bring the competitiveness out of them. The moment they got back to Konoha, he was going to have to talk to them.

"Ready? Set? Go!" Hana yelled and immediately dashed off, followed by her team and Team 7. Kisame, Haku, and Zabuza stood at the gate, watching them go.

'_I think we'll be seeing them again sooner or later..._' Haku thought.

-

Random Author's Notes (you don't have to read this if you don't want to): In case you didn't realize it, Hanzo's final move is based on the police guy's stance from Rurouni Kenshin. I think his name is Sato? And no, Hanzo has nothing to do with the guy from actual history. I just like the name.

I really don't know shit about the Byakugan, so if you think something is wrong with my use of her eyes, inform me please.

For those of you who read my notes on Sanbi and thought Kisame, good for you. It's SO obvious that Kisame should be the Sanbi's container. It should be like that in canon too, considering 1) he's blue, 2) he has fucking GILLS!, and 3) Sanbi has a chakra-absorbing fish named Samehada and it just so happens that Kisame has a chakra-absorbing sword named Samehada.

If any of you have noticed, I've been sending out a lot of hints as to what Naruto will be doing in the future...I hope you guys notice. It's gonna be a BLAST when it gets up to that part.

**Original Techniques:**

Hansetsu no Jutsu - Half-Size Technique  
The victims shrink until they are half their original size. You can not use this technique on someone who is already half sized nor on anyone who is less than double your height. This means that this technique is only good for really short people (children) or against really big opponents.

Raiton: Shurai - Lightning Release: Lightning Strike  
User's hands are enveloped with lightning, giving his punches a much more lethal edge.

Raiton: Raigeki - Lightning Release: Lightning Strike  
Different from Shurai, the user uses this to call down lightning from a chakra-made cloud to strike the opponent.  
Literal meaning is "being struck by lightning (noun)".  
If you every played with Yugioh cards, you'll recognize Raigeki.

Katon: Kuro Karyuu Endan - Fire Release: Black Fire Dragon Flame Projectile  
User blows out a dragon made of black flames and uses it to burn things...or people.

Doton: Sekkai Gusoku - Earth Release: Stone Armor  
Gathers the earth around the user to form a suit of armor made of stone. The more chakra used, the harder it will be. More experienced users can make it as hard as steel.

Doton: Sekifu - Earth Release: Stone Axe  
Forms an axe made of stone around the user's hand. The more chakra used, the harder and bigger it will be. More experienced users can make it as hard as steel and as light as a feather.

Doton: Sekyari - Earth Release: Stone Spear  
Forms a spear made of stone in the user's hand. The more chakra used, the harder and longer it will be. More experienced users can make it as hard as steel and as light as a feather.

**Power Levels: **(as of the end of the chapter)

Civilian child - 3  
Civilian woman - 7  
Civilian man - 10  
Normal genin - 60  
Sasuke - 100 (without Sharingan), 130 (with Sharingan)  
Hanabi - 130  
Normal chuunin - 150  
Normal jounin - 300  
Naruto - 1000 (in fire jutsus), 100 (in wind jutsus), 270 (in taijutsu), 200 (in genjutsu), 300 (overall)  
Hana - 350  
Anko - 400 (both her and Kurenai would be at least 1000 if they knew the Kage Bunshin)  
Kurenai - 400  
Sandaime Hokage - 600  
Yondaime Hokage - 800


	3. Chapter 3: Exam Start

Chapter 3: Exam Start

Their hearts were pounding. Their legs were burning. Their lungs were overworking themselves. Just a little bit farther.

'_We're not going to make it!_'

"Yes! Success!" Inuzuka Hana yelled. She proceeded to do a weird jig. "Now you have to buy us lunch!"

Kakashi sighed. He knew the moment he accepted her challenge that he was going to have to empty his wallet for this. But the competitiveness thankfully eased his two remaining students of their guilt...for now. "Alright, alright, Hana. Let's go report the mission first to Hokage-sama, and then I'll take you and your team out to whatever restaurant you want."

The group of six calmly trouped over to the Hokage tower, where they were met with several ANBU guards at the doors to the Hokage's office.. "Hatake Kakashi, here to report on our mission." The ANBU on the left nodded, and Kakashi lead the other five in.

"Ah, Kakashi, Hana. I take it the mission was a success?"

"Yes, sir."

"Hm? Where's the third member of your team, Kakashi? Eiji, I think his name was."

Sasuke's grimace and Sakura's sudden bursting into tears was an immediate warning that something was wrong.

"Kakashi?" the Hokage asked once more.

The man in question was hesitant to answer. Perhaps it was because he too was trying to choke back the sadness and tears that would soon ensue. "Eiji...Eiji was KIA."

The Sandaime's questioning eyes immediately dulled. He sighed painfully, and rubbed his forehead with his hands. "I understand. Are you going to inform his parents?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Very well. Team 7, you are dismissed. You can take the next week off to grieve."

After Team 7 was gone, the Sandaime turned to Hana and her students. "Hana, report."

Hana snapped to attention. "We got there and established contact without a problem. A week later, Naruto came to me to remind me of your second objective. I found Gato's mansion a day prior, and Naruto asked to be sent in my stead to gather more information. He and Hanabi then left. I don't know what they did there, but when they did not return in several hours, I left to go look for them. I found Hanabi and Naruto, who was injured, and brought Naruto back with me to our client's house. The morning after that, we accompanied Tazuna to the bridge, and was met by Gatou's missing nin within an hour. We fought, and eventually, Gato showed up, telling the missing nin that he didn't plan on paying them anyway. At that point, only three were left, and they stopped fighting us. We temporarily joined sides and eliminated Gatou's army and Gatou himself." Hana recited all of this, and left out some parts that she felt wasn't important enough to be mentioned.

"What happened at the mansion, Naruto? Hanabi?"

Naruto spoke up first. "We found slaves there, and found it inappropriate to leave them there. Since Hana-sensei told us we were meant for things like this, we decided to try to combat them. We split up. After that, I eliminated several rooms full of thugs, and fought one talented samurai, who gave me a little trouble. I later went down to the first floor and met up with Hanabi."

"You mean a samurai actually gave you problems? He must've been one heck of a warrior," Sarutobi commented offhandedly.

"Yes," Naruto responded. "His name was Hattori Hanzo. He says he was once part of Iwa."

The Sandaime's eyes bugged out. "A Hattori?!"

"Yes. Is there something wrong with that?" Naruto questioned.

"No, but it's just been years since they have been mentioned. I remembered back when I was a youth, that the Hattori clan, although a clan made of samurais, was a very powerful and dangerous clan. They were known to be able to take down shinobi quite often. I wonder what caused a Hattori to work for a lowlife man like Gatou."

"He told me that his family was poor and that they needed the money."

"Ah, I guess that makes sense. Now, Hanabi, could you please tell me your part?"

"After the two of us split up, I headed down. I met a dojo full of samurai and mercenaries. I eliminated all but two of the mercenaries, since the two swore to serve me if I could defeat them in combat. I did so, and the three of us then continued down. On the first floor, we had to fight a countless number of thugs, and my two servants stayed behind to take them down while I slipped downstairs to free the slaves. When we came back to the foyer, I saw a nukenin about to strike Den, so I stepped in and blocked the attack. We fought for a bit, but the man defeated me. He was about to deal the death blow before Naruto stepped in and took the blow for me. He managed to kill the nin before he collapsed."

"And that's when I came in," Hana added.

"Very well," the elderly man said. "But I have two questions. What happened to the slaves, and what happened to your servants?"

Hanabi replied, "Kakashi summoned an army of dogs, and the women were brought back to the village. Den and Kouzo were left behind, since there weren't enough dogs to carry them. They should be headed here to Konoha."

The Hokage sighed again. "I'll ask the guards who have gate duty to inform me the moment they see your two servants, alright, Hanabi?"

"Yes, thank you very much Hokage-sama," Hanabi replied with a bow.

"Dismissed."

Team SDF then departed. Sarutobi sighed again (he seemed to be doing that a lot recently), before looking around furtively. Letting loose a giggle, he opened up the bottom right drawer of his desk and brought out a little orange book.

-

The three members of Team SDF were walking around when Hana suddenly stopped. Her two students turned around and looked at her with a questioning gaze.

"Those bastards! They ditched us!"

There was no doubt in both Naruto and Hanabi's mind who "those bastards" were.

Sighing, Hana said, "Eh, forget it then. We'll force them to buy us lunch another time. I'll treat you two this time."

With that, Hana led them to Ichiraku's. Once the three were there, they each gave their order to Ayame, who gladly wrote it down before bringing it to her father.

The three passed the time by talking about random things. Ten minutes later, Ayame returned.

"Beef ramen for you," she said and handed the bowl to Hana. "Miso for you," she announced and gave the second bowl to Hanabi. "And last but not least, chicken ramen for you," she said as she places the last bowl in front of Naruto.

The three picked up their utensils and quickly dug in. The silence was occasionally broken when Hana would say something, only to be rebuked by Hanabi. When the meal was finished, Hana handed the money to Ayame before saying a farewell, followed by Naruto and Hanabi.

"Now, what do you two want to do? Another training session, or a day off?" Hana asked her students.

The two shared a look, and both immediately replied, "Training session."

"Awesome! Now, I'm going to take you to one of my favorite training grounds. It's Training Ground 44."

-

Team SDF soon arrived at the aforementioned training ground, only to be met by a large sign with the words "Forest of Death" painted in big, red letters. In fact, the letters looked like it was written in...blood?

"Before we go in, I have to warn you. This training ground, while it is the perfect place to train, is also very dangerous. There are animals in here that are big enough to eat you in one bite. So if you get in trouble, flare your chakra. Now that the warning is out of the way, this is what we are going to do. You two will be fighting me. I will be attacking you as if you are an enemy shinobi, so there will be no holding back, understand?"

Two nods were her answer.

"Alright then. I'll head in first. When five minutes are up, you two can come in to find me. This exercise is over when the sun sets. The moment it does, we will meet up here, understand?""

One more, she received two nods. Hana stared at her two students in the eyes. First Hanabi, and then Naruto. Within a second, she disappeared into the trees, as silent as a predator stalking its prey.

Hanabi and Naruto glanced at each other, before bringing their hands up to form a cross-shaped seal. Four puffs of smoke emerged, and when it dissipated, three Naruto's and one Hanabi were seen.

The six dashed into the trees, sticking together in a group. Power came in numbers, didn't it?

Suddenly, a black blur was seen from the real Naruto's eyes, and a poof of smoke, along with a rush of memories, informed him that Hana had just dashed in and killed one of his clones without anyone even managing to do anything about it.

All five remaining members of the group spun around at once, only to see the remains of the smoke slowly disappearing.

A sudden roar was all the warning they had before a giant creature dashed into their group. Naruto's two remaining clones were destroyed, and their memories showed nothing of what the creature was.

Naruto noticed the black blur again, hidden within the shadows of the looming trees. He slipped into his fighting stance, as Hanabi and her clone did the same. The black blur leapt out of the shadows.

What emerged was not Hana-sensei, as they expected. Rather, it was a large horse-sized _ant _with pincers that looked as if it could crush a steel bar in two.

Both Hanabi and Naruto's jaws dropped at the sight of this giant bug. I mean, it's not everyday that you see a bug that's big enough to use as a steed!

"Katon: Goukakyuu!" The two genins blew flames out of their mouths simultaneously, hoping to roast the monstrous bug. The creature's loud screams were clearly heard, but when the flames died down, the ant just shook the ash off of itself and shrieked again.

"Its weakness is its underbelly," Naruto grunted. Hanabi nodded in response and unsealed her rapier. Naruto followed and extended his gauntlet's blades. The two dashed in a crisscross fashion towards the ant, before appearing right in front of the monster.

Both suddenly ducked, avoiding the clicking pincers, and stabbed their weapons into the exposed belly of the ant. It gurgled a few times, before stopping its cries. Naruto and Hanabi pulled back their blades, creating a nasty _squelch_!

Without a sound, ten more Naruto Kage Bunshins appeared, and each suddenly ran off in separate directions. The real Naruto nodded his head in a random direction to Hanabi, in a silent gesture that said "Let's go this way."

The two advance deeper into the foliage carefully, as their sensei may attack them at any moment. A crack was heard, and a sudden "Gatsuuga!" made them jump away. Hana ended up standing in between Naruto and Hanabi, who then slid into their respective fighting stances.

"Two at once, eh you two? Bring it!" their sensei yelled.

Hanabi started first, leaping forward with her arms stretched. The tips of her fingers slammed into Hana's arms, eliciting a cry from her. Unfortunately, the cry ended with a puff of smoke. In its place was a log. With her Byakugan on, she immediately noted the place Hana appeared at. She dashed forward, followed by Naruto and the two exchanged punches and kicks with their teacher. Hana blocked Hanabi's Jyuuken strikes and Naruto's claws with a two kunai, one in each hand.

Both Hanabi and Naruto's attacks then sped up.

'_Their teamwork has gotten better,_' Hana thought to herself. And indeed, this was evident by the way the two could interchange their attacks without missing a beat. '_Their teamwork is far superior to any genin team. In fact, I think it's better than most chuunin squads!_'

When Hanabi finally managed a glancing blow to Hana's arm, she called their training session off.

"Very good, you two! If I could do so, I'd promote you two to chuunin already!"

The two nodded their heads at the praise.

"Alright, I have to go see the Hokage, so you two have the rest of the day off."

Hana's two students, recognizing a dismissal, nodded and disappeared without a sound.

-

After Hana's dismissal, Naruto returned to his home. He only plopped down on the couch in his living room when he remembered the items he took from those he cut down back during the Wave mission. Running a nimble finger over the seal lightly, Naruto unsealed two swords. One was Hanzo's katana, and the other was the gate guard's wakizashi.

The katana that Hanzo left to him was beautifully crafted. The blade was around a meter long, and it shined in the light. The handle was wrapped in silk cloth, and looked to be very expensive. The guard was made of a shining black material in the shape of a roaring dragon. Along the blade threes words were inscribed: Kuroryujin no Daichi (Black Dragon God of the Earth).

The wakizashi that he picked up from the guard's corpse was also a beautifully crafted work of art. However, and this Naruto could only assume, the guard did not treat the blade well, which resulted in a wakizashi that seemed dull and lifeless. This was very different from the Kuroryujin, since that katana sang to Naruto's soul. It gave him a feeling of power and of confidence. This wakizashi felt tainted and malicious. On this blade, four words were inscribed: Wakizashi no Miyamoto Musashi.

Naruto stood up, katana in hand. He swung it experimentally a few times, when a sudden thump startled him. Spinning around and dropping into a normal kenjutsu stance, his eyes carefully scanned the room for intruders. When he conceded that he was the only one in the room, he saw that the table next to the couch was split in half. He sheathed the sword and dropped down to his knees, where he picked up the two halves of the broken table. Naruto examined the cut edges, and noticed that they were very fine. That was some sword!

'_Perhaps some sword lessons would be nice,_' he thought. '_Kyuubi-sama? Do you have any scrolls about kenjutsu?_'

No response was given, so Naruto assumed the answer was no. Well, either that or the Kyuubi was not in a hospitable mood.

'_I guess I'll ask Hana-sensei if she knows any kenjutsu teachers._'

-

Hana, along with every single jounin of Konoha, stood in the Hokage's office.

"Now that you are all gathered here, I would like to inform you of my newest laws. A genin must be 16 and must have taken a life in battle before he or she can take the chuunin exams. This will not only reduce genin deaths, but prepare our new generation for the life of a shinobi. This only affects the genins currently in circulation. Also, but unrelated to you unless you know someone in the Academy, our Academy students will no longer be coddled. Rather than focusing on written tests and memorizing Konoha history, the chuunin teachers will begin to teach about the _real _life of a shinobi, not the glorified tales of how being a shinobi is all about honor, glory, and fame.

"Can I ask why you decided to pass this law Hokage-sama?" one of the jounin in the back asked.

"I have studied statistics. Compared to the other villages, our village is known to produce the weakest genins, because we refuse to show them what the life of a genin is really like until they are sent out to their first C or B ranked mission, where they get slaughtered by enemy shinobi. Not only do we produce the weakest genins, but the number of genin we lose a year is very high, unlike for example, Kiri. More statistics prove that we _also _have the lowest number of genin graduating to chuunin when the chuunin exams are hosted in other villages, because they're exams are too hard for our genin to bear."

Some of the jounins started to protest, but one hard look from the Hokage silenced them.

Hana then decided to speak up. "What about my genin? Does that apply to us too?"

Sarutobi looked at her and responded, "My law applies to _all _genin."

"Why? Surely they are an exception? They are stronger than the rest of the genin their ages! Hanabi isn't even twelve!

The Hokage stood calmly in front of her. "They are but children. I refuse to change my mind."

"That may be so, but Hanabi and Naruto? They have _killed _already! They should be allowed to take the chuunin exam now!" Hana argued.

"It does not matter. They have only fulfilled one part of the law. And besides, if one team is to be given an exception, what do you think the council will do when I refuse to give Kakashi's team the same thing?"

The rest of the jounin senseis shot her a look, but she ignored it. "What do you mean?" Hana asked, confused.

"The civilian council favors Sasuke, the last loyal Uchiha, and they will do whatever they can to pamper him. If I give your team an exception, then the council will demand the same thing for Kakashi's team, which Sasuke is a part of."

"Then can't you do something about the civilian council? Why should you even bother listening to them? I remembered reading that the civilian council is just that. A council. They shouldn't even have the power to demand something of you, Hokage-sama!"

The man sighed. "Yes, I suppose you are right, Hana. Unfortunately, I cannot do anything legally to them unless they overstep their boundaries."

"Then allow my team to participate in the next chuunin exams, and when the council demands the same for the Uchiha, tell them that they are overstepping their boundaries and dispel the council!"

The Hokage looked at the ceiling in thought, before responding to Hana's suggestion. "You know, Hana, I think that might actually work. Very well. Your team is now authorized to take the next chuunin exam."

Hana grinned. Success!

"However, they must make it to chuunin during this exam. If they do not, then their next chance will be when they're sixteen."

"What about Hanabi? When Naruto is sixteen, Hanabi will only be twelve."

"She will be allowed to participate then, since she will have accumulated four years of experience by then. Now, this meeting is over. Get back to your duties. Dismissed!"

-

Naruto was outside in the village proper, wandering around with the Kuroryujin strapped to his side, just like Hanzo did. The wakizashi, wrapped in a thick cloth so Naruto didn't have to continuously feel like darkness, was held in his hand.

'_Perhaps I should visit Toto-san's shop and ask him about these two weapons..._'

Deciding that this was the best thing to do, Naruto headed towards the weapons shop.

He walked in the door, and the jingling of the bell alerted Toto that he had a customer. Coming out from the back, he saw who the customer was. "Naruto! How are your gauntlets?"

"They work fine, although I am not extremely fond of the battle mode."

"Why not?"

"It just feels wrong. Just like when I was picking a new weapon back then."

"Ah I see. Well what can I do for you today?"

"I received two new weapons my last mission, and they looked like they were valuable, so I wanted to see if you knew anything about them.

"Of course, of course."

Naruto placed the clothed wakizashi in front of Toto, and reached to his side to pull out the katana, when a gasp stopped him.

Toto had unwrapped the wakizashi and was holding the blade almost reverently. "Miyamoto Musashi's wakizashi! Do you know what you possess here?" the man nearly shouted.

"The wakizashi of this Musashi guy?" Naruto replied with a sweatdrop.

Toto sighed at the ignorance of youth. "Miyamoto Musashi was a legendary warrior from back when samurai were the prevailing military force and shinobi did not exist. He went around the countries challenging the heads of various samurai clans to duels. He never lost, and he occasionally killed those he dueled with. His most famous duel was with the Yoshioka clan. He challenged the head of the clan, Yoshioka Seijuro, and arrived later. With a single blow, he crippled Seijuro and won the duel. Seijuro's brother, Denshichiro, then became head, and he challenged Musashi for revenge. Once again, Musashi arrived late, but he still won. This second victory outraged the Yoshioka clan, whose head was the 12-year old Yoshioka Matashichiro. The clan assembled a force of archers and samurai, and challenged Musashi to a duel. Musashi broke his previous habit of arriving late, and came to the temple where the duel was to be fought hours early. Hidden, Musashi assaulted the force, killing Matashichiro, and escaping while being attacked by dozens of their supporters. With the death of Matashichiro, the branch of the Yoshioka School was destroyed. Later on in his life, he created his own style, the Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu (The School of the Strategy of Two Heavens as One) style. This style used two swords: mainly a heavy hitter and a smaller sword. The smaller sword would parry and neutralize the enemy's sword, and then the heavy hitter would be used to strike."

"Wow," Naruto whistled.

"Yes. And what you have here is Musashi's very own wakizashi, which was his smaller sword. For the heavy hitter, he had a katana, which I'm sure also had his name inscribed on it. If you could find the katana, you would have a perfect pair of weapons to use to practice the Hyho Niten Ichi-ryu."

Naruto nodded and promised to himself that he would do his best to find the katana.

"Now, you said you had a second sword to show me?" Toto asked.

Naruto unsheathed the Kuroryujin no Daichi and laid it on the counter in front of Toto.

Toto looked at it once, blinked, and then blinked again. "Naruto. Please, tell this old man what those words are," he said, pointing at the name inscribed into the blade.

"Kuroryujin no Daichi," he informed Toto. "I know who it belonged to, but I don't know its history or anything."

Toto sighed once again. "This is _the _Kuroryujin no Daichi! It's the katana of _the _Hattori Hanzo! The man personally defeated the head of the Iga clan of Iwa with his sword alone! The shinobi of the clan, enraged by the death of the head, attacked the Hattori clan, and Hanzo cut down over ninety percent of the ninja that attacked, using _this _sword. It's said to have some special powers, but that's just a rumor," Toto concluded with a wave of his hand. "Anyway, with this katana, you could learn the Hyoho Niten Ichi-ryu, since you not only have a good katana, but a good wakizashi too!"

Naruto perked up at this. A chance to learn something new? He wouldn't miss this for anything!

"However, I don't know anyone who knows the style, so no luck there."

Naruto deflated. Damn that man for getting his hopes up!

"Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

Naruto shook his head.

"Well," Toto said, "are you going to make bringing famous swords to my shop a habit? Because if you do, I might die an early death due to all the shock."

Naruto grinned a small smile, before it vanished. "Thank you for your time, Toto-san." He nodded his head and collected his two weapons, before walking out.

-

Naruto only just made it out of the shop when a voice beside him caught his attention.

"Naruto."

He turned his head, only to see Hanabi walking along beside him. "Yes?"

"Hana-sensei told me to tell you that we are going to be participating in the next chuunin exam, which is to be held here in Konoha. The first exam will be held in two weeks at the Academy."

Naruto nodded, and Hanabi departed.

He continued walking along by himself when an ANBU appeared in front of him. "Hokage-sama requests your presence in his office," the ANBU said in a monotone voice even better than Naruto's.

Naruto asked for the reason, but the ANBU just shrugged and disappeared. Sighing in irritation, the blond genin also disappeared in a poof of smoke.

-

"You requested my presence, Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked the man.

The man in question looked up from his work and sighed. "You have been informed about the fact that you and your teammate will be participating in the chuunin exams?"

Naruto said he was, and the Hokage continued.

"Well, as you know, Iwa has been recently heard to be plotting with Oto and Suna for our destruction."

"Isn't Suna our ally?"

"Yes, but they seem to be mobilizing their forces, and they refuse to answer our queries. Under the guise of the chuunin exam, you and your team will take part to either confirm or deny these rumors."

"And if I confirm these rumors?" Naruto asked.

The old man sighed. He really did not want to do this, but in times of war, sacrifices had to be made. "If those rumors are true, I want you to destroy the alliance. To do so, I want you to eliminate the Iwa genin and frame either the Oto or the Suna genin as the perpetrators during the second exam, which is to be a survival exam. Do not get caught! Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded his head.

"Very well. You have two weeks to prepare. Dismissed."

Naruto went to the window and jumped out.

'_Why do they always have to use the windows?_' the Sandaime thought to himself.

-

One week passed, and Naruto had yet to find a suitable kenjutsu teacher. When he had asked Hana, she recommended a man named Gekkou Hayate, but the jounin refused to teach him kenjutsu. When asked why, Hayate told him that was looking for a proper apprentice to teach his own unique style of kenjutsu, and that he wasn't going to teach every single person that came up to him.

A normal person may have taken offense at this, but Naruto shrugged it off and asked Hayate if _he _knew anyone else who could teach him how to use a katana or wakizashi. Hayate told him that most ANBU used a wakizashi, but that didn't mean they were skilled with it. Well, skilled according to him.

During the week, Naruto went back to his normal training regiment. That is, he would do a few hours of physical fitness and then practice with the katana and wakizashi. Although he was by no means a master at the art of kenjutsu like Gekkou Hayate was, he considered himself at a mediocre level. He had his clones continue to practice techniques that he already knew, as more practice of a technique meant it would be stronger and less chakra could be used to perform it.

When he finished his own training for the day, he would go back to the village and walk around, until he met someone he knew or something caught his eye. Mostly, he bumped into Anko or Kurenai, who would take him drinking (in Anko's case), or to just hang out (which Kurenai did). There were a few times when he saw Hanabi or Hana, and both would then challenge him to a spar. With Hanabi, Naruto usually won. There were a few times when Hanabi beat him, but that just showed how much she was improving. With Hana, they were about tied in terms of the number of wins and losses. Whenever she lost, Hana would then pout and whine, until Naruto took her out to get something to eat (not as a date, mind you, just between friends, despite the fact that they were in a teacher-student relationship).

-

A few days before the first exam was to take place, Naruto was strolling around the streets of Konoha with no destination in mind, when a sudden childish scream attracted his attention. Calmly walking to the area where he heard the scream, he saw a Suna genin holding up the Hokage's grandson.

"Hey, get me down from here, or I'll tell my grandfather that you didn't try to save me while I was being attacked!" Konohamaru yelled at the bored Naruto.

The Suna genin that was holding Konohamaru hostage looked at Naruto, before he sneered. "Hmph, so you're going to try to rescue this punk?"

The other Suna genin beside the first one spoke up. "Just let him go, Kankarou."

"But Temari!" the oddly dressed Kankarou protested. "He bumped into me!"

Naruto suddenly interrupted their conversation with a question. "Why are you wearing make up?"

Kankarou immediately spun around to face Naruto and snarled. "It's not make up! It's face paint!"

Naruto, still skeptical, shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Kankarou dropped Konohamaru and reached to grab the bundle on his back when a gravelly voice spoke up. "Stop Kankarou. You are making a fool of yourself."

The aforementioned Suna genin immediately paled at the voice and began to stutter nervously. "S-sorry Gaara. It won't happen again. Really!"

With a swirl of sand, the genin who's name was Gaara appeared in front of Naruto and beside his teammate. "Forgive my brother," Gaara murmured softly. He turned around swiftly and walked away, followed by his two teammates.

**Ichibi no Shukaku**, Kyuubi's voice spoke up from inside Naruto's head. **He's the annoying one.**

'_Hm, what a coincidence. I have met the Ichibi, the Sanbi, the Gobi, and the Hachibi. I wonder who's next._'

-

By the time the second week was up, Naruto was unexpectedly getting excited. There was so little to do back in Konoha besides training and hanging out with the few friends he had. When the time came to report to the Academy, Naruto was the first one there. He sat down and tried to meditate while waiting for his team, but that quickly became pointless when a purple-headed body came flying into him.

"Naru-chan!" Anko cried out as she squeezed him to death. "I'm bored! Let's go do something!"

"C-can't!" he replied back in a choked voice.

"_What? _Why not?!" she asked after letting him go.

Taking in a gulp of precious air, Naruto told her, "I'm participating in the chuunin exams."

"Ooh, the chuunin exams? Here?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?" she asked with a pout.

Naruto didn't really know why he didn't, so he just told her, "I forgot."

"Well, then I guess I'm going to _forget_ to tell you that I'm the second examiner of the chuunin exams," she said with a sniffle.

Raising an eyebrow at her, Naruto asked incredulously, "_You're _an examiner?"

"Hey!" she cried out in annoyance. "You say that like it's a bad thing!"

Naruto looked away, refusing to comment.

"...I'm going to kick your ass to Iwa and back!" she told him with a huff when he did not rebuke her statement.

"Oh look my teammate is here. Gotta go!" he said blandly before rushing off to accompany his teammate into the building. Once inside, they quickly headed up to the third floor, where all genin were told to meet, totally bypassing the two chuunin who stood guard over the doors to the second floor.

Ten minutes later, the first foreign team arrived. It was a team of Iwa nins. Naruto carefully took note of the three genins, since it was his job to eliminate them and place the blame on Oto or Suna, whichever was more convenient. A team of Ame nin arrived next. Their creepy bodysuits and their weird masks were out of place in the classroom, but Naruto said nothing. Two Suna teams came in five minutes later. Gaara nodded at him, while the other five Suna genin sneaked in like this was some kind of reconnaissance mission. The big bundle on Kankarou's back didn't seem to help him though.

Soon, the room was filled with genin from all of the villages. Genin from Konoha, Suna, Oto, Ame, Kiri, Iwa, Kusa, Taki, and Kumo were assembled here, and Naruto could not help but take notice of the varying outfits the shinobi from each village wore. They were...different.

A young man with glasses approached Hanabi and Naruto.

"Hi, I'm Kabuto! It seems that your team and my team will be on the only teams representing Konoha! As comrades, I thought I'd share some information with you. Do you have any questions?"

"Nope, and we're not interested," Naruto replied gruffly for both him and Hanabi.

"Very well, but let me show you my collection of cards on the various genin here anyway. I'm sure they'll be very helpful." Kabuto pulled out a deck of cards and spread them open, before channeling some of his chakra into them. He pulled out several cards and flipped it over, showing the pictures on it to Naruto and Hanabi.

"This is Subaku no Gaara. Red hair, green eyes, twelve, has a tattoo of the kanji for love on his forehead, and he seems to be a bit bloodthirsty. He's a Suna genin. He's one of the genins to watch out for in the exam, because he's never come back from a mission with a single injury, and he's done at least 2 dozen C rank missions, one dozen B rank missions, and about two or three A ranks. He's also been reported to have a sadistic streak in him when he's fighting. He apparently specializes in using sand as both a defense and offense, so you should watch out for that.

"This is Nii Madoka, a Kumo nin. She's average height, blond, fourteen, and is really fierce. Her family is made up of femme fatales, and she is apparently the younger sister of the heir to her matriarchal family. Since she isn't going to be the heir of the family, she's usually treated unfairly, kinda like the Hyuuga clan we have here. I've received news that once her big sister, Nii Yugito, turns 21, Madoka is going to be married off to some rich man as a political alliance. She's a genin to watch out for because she not only has an affinity to lightning, but she has an affinity to water too, making her a dual affinity user. Add to that fact that lightning's power is increased when the target is wet, and well, she is _really _dangerous! Her teammates are average genin, nothing to speak of.

"This next one is from Kiri. Black haired, tall and lanky, and probably around sixteen. No one knows his real name, but he goes under the name of Shiso, which basically means Shadow of Death. And boy, he really lives up to it. He used to apprentice under two of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen; Momochi Zabuza and Hoshigaki Kisame, before they went rogue and became nukenin. After that, the Mizukage placed him on a team with two nobodies and well, now he's at this chuunin exam. He's probably the best swordsman in this exam. He uses a large zanbatou like his two senseis, but it apparently doesn't have a name. Probably means it's a low quality weapon. Due to him being Zabuza and Kisame's successors, it means he specializes in silent killing and outright swordplay. He's rumored to be as good as Zabuza at silent killing.

"This man is a genin from Iwa. His name is Matsudaira Kenichi, and he's a broad man in his early twenties, has a huge beard, weighs over 200 pounds, and is at least 6'8. He is from an influential clan of Iwa, and would be in jail if not for the influence of his family. He's committed several crimes, but nothing too serious. He's done some arson, some assault, and some stealing, but his family paid off the daimyo and the Tsuchikage, so he's only been demoted a rank. He favors a large battle ax that weighs probably as much as he does. He's a ruthless man who tends to bully the weak. A typical playground bully.

"Tokugawa Ieyasu is one of Kenichi's teammate. He's basically the same as Kenichi, in both terms of power and for the reason why he's a strong genin. He, too, is in his early twenties, although he has a slim physique, unlike the heavyset Kenichi. His clan bribed officials to downplay his crimes, and like Kenichi, received a demotion. He uses a long spear, which he is apparently very proficient in. However, the rest of his shinobi skills are below average, so genjutsu or ninjutsu is the best way to take this guy down.

"This final one is Hattori Yuki. A brunette, tall, eighteen, and seems to be pretty rash. She's the final genin of the only Iwa team, and is from the Hattori clan, which is really rare, considering that she is the only shinobi in the entire family of samurai. Apparently, when her parents found out that she had a large source of chakra and a huge potential for greatness, they broke tradition and sent their girl to the Academy. She's a kenjutsu specialist, just like her family, and seems to prefer that over genjutsu and ninjutsu. In fact, she rarely uses genjutsu and only occasionally uses ninjutsu (and when she _does _use ninjutsu, it's combined with her sword)! I've also found out that she doesn't get along with her two teammates."

When Kabuto mentioned Hattori Yuki, Naruto had started. Hanzo's words came back to him, and he vowed to at least speak with her before killing her during the second exam. Hanabi nodded along while Kabuto explained their six most dangerous opponents, and when he finished explaining she nodded a thank you. The two younger genin's attention was then stolen by the arrival of Morino Ibiki, the first exam's proctor.

"Alright you little shits! Shut your mouths and sit the fuck down! I am the first exam's proctor, Morino Ibiki. Your first exam is a written test." The man continued to explain the rules of the test, ignoring many outbursts and protests.

After he was done, he started the exam with a harsh "Start!"

The genin all turned over their tests and began to scribble fiercely. At least, several did. Most looked stumped at the questions, and few figured out the secret behind the exam until ten minutes of the exam passed. By then, people were cheating left and right, and teams were being ejected just as quickly.

-

While all of that was going on, the council of Konoha was gathered in the chamber with the Hokage.

"We have here a petition for Uchiha Sasuke to be allowed as part of the chuunin exams," a civilian member of the council said as he approached the Hokage with said document.

The Hokage took the document and looked it over before burning it to ashes with a quick Katon: Goukakyuu. "My answer to your petition...is no."

A chorus of protests immediately sprang up from the civilians on the council, while the shinobi clan heads remained quiet.

"You can not do that, Hokage-sama!" one of the merchants on the council yelled.

"And why not?" the elderly man asked.

"It is a legal document with the necessary signatures, forcing you to have no choice but to grant us our request," the man responded smugly.

"Denied. The civilian council has grown corrupt and has taken too much power. As stated in the Konoha Constitution, in times of peace, the civilian council can be forcefully disbanded when they overstep their boundaries. Demanding things of the Hokage, who is in charge of all military matters (and this _is _a military matter), is definitely overstepping your boundaries. As a result, I hereby disband the civilian council."

A cacophony of screams, protests, and denials erupted.

"Silence!"

The entire room immediately went silent, and the Hokage continued. "I have, for too long, let the council run amok to do as they please. You are civilians, and I am the Hokage. You have no power in matters concerning the military, while I have all the power concerning the military. You do not demand things from me. You request them politely. And if I say it's denied, then it's _denied_!" The elderly Hokage seemed to revert to his old self that had developed as the result of the Shinobi War.

Homura and Koharu, who were at first going to argue for the petition, shared a look. This was the Sarutobi they knew so well. This was the famed Professor who was willing to do what he had to to protect the village. This was the legendary Sandaime that the enemies of Konoha feared. And this was a man you did _not _want to antagonize.

-

Within an hour, the first exam was finished. A large black blur crashed into the window and rolled right up to the front of the class, while a black banner sprung up behind her.

"I am the beautiful Mitarashi Anko!" she yelled, as shown by the banner. Looking around, she noticed that there were still quite a few teams. "Eh, you must be losing your touch, eh Ibiki?" she asked, before spotting Naruto. "Naru-chan!" she yelled and jumped at him, clinging to him like he was her lifeline.

Naruto could not help but sweatdrop, both at her dynamic entrance and at her slightly insane behavior.

Letting Naruto go, she turned to the rest of the class, some of whom were sporting bleeding noses or red blushes, and yelled, "Now follow me you stupid wastes of space!"

She sauntered over to the window before jumping out and landing with a grunt. Without looking back to see if they were following, she sped off to the destination of the second exam: Training Ground 44, the Forest of Death.

-

A/N: If you're a history buff, you'll recognize a lot of names from Japanese history/legend. Miyamoto Musashi is a real person from Japanese history. He's also the person the manga Vagabond is based off of. I may have changed some of his history to fit with the shinobi world, but nothing was made up. However, the feats for Hanzo are complete and utter bs. I made it up (including the sword). Tokugawa Ieyasa, you'll also recognize, but everything I've written about him is bs.

When I was researching the villages, I noticed something about one of the extra missing nin of Kiri, some guy named Raiga. I don't watch the anime, and I don't care for it, so there's a big chance that any filler characters will never appear in my story. Otherwise, Raiga would've appeared with Kisame and Zabuza.

**NOTE:** Sorry for those who read this when I last posted it. I messed up big time on this chapter and needed to fix it, but I had no idea, so I couldn't just fix it quick and repost for you.


	4. Chapter 4: The Beginning

Chapter 4: The Beginning

Naruto couldn't help but think back to the profiles Kabuto gave out on the genin to watch out for. They were all worthy opponents. It was a great place to go recruiting for his own personal agenda.

He already built up good relationships with several missing nin, and he was sure he could convince some of the people here in Konoha to leave with him. Yes, he would go missing nin.

'_Soon, I'll leave this place. I'll build my own village and search out the remaining containers. We will become the strongest nation alive!_'

**Ohoho**, the Kyuubi's laughter sounded. **Your plans sound fun. I'm glad I chose you as my holder, as you will bring both fame and fear to my name.**

'_Yes, that too, Kyuubi-sama,_' Naruto replied with a small and fleeting grin.

-

Several teams of genin stood there in front of Anko, as they waited for her to explain the second task.

"Alright you little turds! The second exam is to take place here in the Forest of Death. The objective here is to stay five days in the forest. You will be given one scroll, either Heaven or Earth, and are to find the opposite scroll. Once you do that, you are to bring both scrolls to the center tower in the forest. Killing is allowed, so you might want to be wary of your more bloodthirsty rivals. If anyone on your team dies, then you fail. If you don't reach the tower within the five days alloted, you fail. If you open the scrolls before reaching the tower...well, let's just say you'll be in for a surprise."

One of the genin asked, "What if we decide to give up?"

"Well, then," Anko started as she stared at the genin, "you better hide somewhere for the remainder of the time, 'cause we aren't coming to get you. Oh!" she added brightly, "If you guys leave the area anytime during the five days, you also fail. So, c'mere and sign your death warrants. Can't have your village blaming _us _for your deaths, you know?"

No one backed out, and they all slowly formed a line to receive the agreement and their team's scroll. Within 45 minutes, all of the teams were situated at one of the many gates leading into the Forest of Death. A shrill whistle sounded, and the gates simultaneously opened.

-

"May I inquire as to the location of the Uchiha clan compund?" a fair-haired man with sparkling brown eyes and a friendly smile asked an elderly woman.

"Oh, well the Uchiha clan compound are over- Hey, sonny, are you looking for the Uchiha boy?"

"Why, yes I am, ma'am. I have urgent business to discuss with him," the man offered with a heartfelt smile.

"Ah, in that case, Sasuke-kun no longer lives at the clan compound. He moved out after _that _incident into a small apartment on the other side of town, around there," the woman gestured into the distance.

"Thank you for your help, ma'am," the man replied with a bow.

He walked off at a civilians' pace towards the Uchiha boy's apartment. After all, it wouldn't do for a civilian to be caught running at shinobi speed. Who knows the questions that would rise from that fact?

-

Naruto and Hanabi ran into the forest, but paused about 30 minutes in. Looking at Hanabi, who recognized him as the team leader, Naruto carefully explained his plan. "We'll split up here. Gather as many scrolls as you can, and we'll meet up at the tower in three days," he said. "If either of us are not there by then, the other will assume that we are caught or dead, however slim the chances of that are."

Hanabi nodded her assent. "See you in three days," she said as a farewell before disappearing without a sound.

Naruto sighed after she left. He hoped that would be enough time to do as Hokage-sama commanded. Following that, he too, left without a sound.

-

'_I should deal with the Iwa team first,_' Naruto thought to himself as he headed in a northerly direction. He and Hanabi started off at one of the southeastern gates, which meant that the Iwa team started from the one of the northeastern gates.

After Kabuto had given out information on the most noticeable genin, Naruto decided to subtly "tag" each individual with a chakra string, so that he would always know where they were located. It also acted as a health detector. The way it worked was that the chakra string fed on the target's chakra. However, the chakra drain was so small it was unnoticeable. This meant that if the target ever died, chakra would stop being fed to his string, and the string would then dissipate. Also, the healthier the target is, the thicker the string would be. When the target is close to dying, the attached chakra string will also start to dissolve.

Three thick chakra strings all pointed in the same direction, so it was obvious to anyone with half a brain that this was the Iwa team.

Ten minutes of speeding through the forest went by, until a sudden glint of light appeared in his peripheral vision. He ducked, and the shuriken embedded itself in the bark of the tree he was standing on.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a figure said as he approached Naruto. It was an Ame genin from the team that Naruto had observed. The genin was wearing a weird tan-colored bodysuit. This genin had on a respirator and several layers of bandages covering his face, leaving room for where the eyes were left. Two more Ame genin appeared. Both newcomers had a respirator and bandages on their face like their companion, but the one on the left one hole for his left eye to see out of, while the one on the right had no visible holes in the bandages.

"Give us your scroll and we won't kill you," the first Ame genin said.

Naruto snorted and without a hint, he smashed his fist into the first genin's gut and kicked out at the two genin on the sides. His attacks, however, went right through them.

"Hehehe," three voice echoed in the forest simultaneously. "You can't catch us!"

A literal army of the three Ame genin suddenly appeared in front of Naruto, and he could only raise his eye. A bunch of regular Bunshin? What did they hope to accomplish with that? The Bunshin couldn't touch him, so he had nothing to worry about.

The army of clones each pulled out an assortment of throwing weapons, and the first row immediately chucked them right at him. His eyes calmly swept through the ranks of clones, all the while letting the fake weapons hit his skin and disperse into nothingness.

The second row of clones then jumped over the first row, who were still throwing, and rushed at Naruto. He didn't even need to do anything, as the thrown kunai and clones were all fake. They couldn't touch him! However, a sharp whistling was heard, and he raised his arm up. A simple flick of the wrist and the kunai was snatched out of the air. A second hadn't even passed before he threw the weapon back towards the area it came from. A sharp cry was his only sign of success.

"My eye!" one of the three genin yelled.

Another yelled back, "Mubi, are you alright?"

"I can't see! I can't see!" Mubi screamed.

"Ah, so I hit the one with one eye," Naruto commented lightly, as if he did not just blind someone.

"I'm going to fucking rip you apart! Oboro, let's go!" the second genin yelled again. A barrage was sent towards Naruto.

Unluckily for the genin, Naruto had already moved out of the way. Standing above the Ame genin that threw the weapons on a tree limb was amusing, Naruto noted. The genin was swiveling his head around frantically, and he seemed to be having a panic attack.

"Why do people never look up?" Naruto asked rhetorically, before jumping down. His kunai sunk into the young man's neck, and a strangled cry was let loose. A quick tug of the kunai, and the man's blood spurted out of the wound. The corpse then stilled.

"Two down," Naruto noted aloud. However, the soft murmur was carried to the ears of the remaining Ame genin, who, in a fit of rage, charged at him en masse with a large group of clones.

"I'm going to kill you! You blinded Mubi, you killed Kagari...you won't live to see tomorrow!" Oboro and his clones all raised their kunai and shuriken at the same time, and with a ferocious roar, let loose a storm; a storm of flying death.

'_Hm, that would be a good name for a technique,_' Naruto mused to himself while dodging and smacking the kunai away with his hands, despite the fact that some were just illusions. _'Storm of Flying Death..._'

Oboro yelled in frustration again. His attacks were useless against this guy!

'_One last chance!_' Oboro thought. "Mizu Bunshin!" A dozen clones sprang up from the water. "Attack!" he yelled.

The clones immediately charged at Naruto, weapons in hand. Without even blinking, Naruto dispelled the clones with a simple punch or a quick kick. "Is that it?" Naruto asked.

"No it isn't!" Oboro yelled again. He brought his hands up to form the seal for Mizu Bunshins, but suddenly felt three small pricks on his back. Looking down, he saw three blades coated in blood protruding from his stomach. "Fuck you..." he muttered, before he fell limp.

Naruto retracted his claws from Oboro's stomach and quickly wiped the blood off on the dead genin's bodysuit. After the blood was mostly gone, he searched through the three bodies of Ame genin, finding an Earth scroll on Kagari's body. He checked on his chakra strings. None of his targets were hurt too badly so far. That was good.

-

Naruto soon traced the chakra string all the way back to the three Iwa genin. Standing on a tree branch in the distance, he quietly observed the team.

"What teams should we look for and what teams should we avoid?" Ieyasu asked Kenichi.

"I dunno. It doesn't matter either. We're both ex-chuunins, so we're already stronger than the weaklings here," Kenichi replied.

Yuki, who was standing off to the side, piped up, "How about the Kiri team? They have two weaklings on their te-"

Whatever she was going to say was interrupted by a smack to her face. "Watch yourself, girl. Just 'cause we're teammates doesn't mean we are going to sit here and listen to you give us orders."

Yuki spat out a mouthful of blood and glared at Kenichi, the one who hit her, hatefully. Oh, how she longed to kill him...

'_What's the best way to deal with this situation?_' he pondered. With a snap of his fingers, an idea came to him.

A quick Henge, and his hitae-ate's symbol changed from the Konoha symbol to the musical note that represented Oto.

He jumped down into the underbrush and began to make a lot of noise as he walked towards the Iwa team, so they would not be startled by his appearance.

Once the trio was in his sights, and he in theirs, he raised his hand to show he was unarmed. "I have been asked to confirm if you guys understand the plan."

A quiet mutter of "Oh, it's just a stupid Oto kid," from Ieyasu seemed to calm the team down slightly.

Kenichi looked upon the disguised Naruto with annoyance. "Of course we understand. You can go tell your damn 'Orochimaru-sama' that we are ready to carry out our part of the plan." The Snake Sannin's name was said with disgust, Naruto noted.

At the name of Orochimaru, Naruto immediately froze. '_This is bad news. As soon as I'm done with these three, I'll need to report this to Hokage-sama._' Naruto thought to himself. '_Now to make them think that Oto is betraying them..._'

"Oh good. Then you'll understand that Orochimaru-sama needs you as a sacrifice!" And with that, Naruto, who had been slowly walking up to Kenichi, lunged. A kunai appeared in his hand, and his arm snaked forward in an attempt to stab the man's heart. However, the man wasn't an ex-chuunin for nothing. Kenichi's large battle ax was immediately in his hands, and Naruto's kunai only managed to hit the blunt side of said ax.

Yuki unsheathed her katana and Ieyasu unstrapped the spear. Both got into a ready stance. Kenichi, who was still in a deadlock with the pesky Oto brat's kunai, jumped back to rejoin his teammates.

"Damn Oto. I knew we shouldn't have trusted you and your damn Otokage," Kenichi muttered. Now this was an even bigger shock. To think, that the not only was Orochimaru working with Oto, but he was the _Otokage_! This made the already S-rank information even more valuable.

Naruto disappeared in a burst of speed, only to reappear over Ieyasu. His kunai was aimed straight at the top of the genin's head. Just as he was about to plunge it into the head, Kenichi's giant battle ax smashed into the blade, cutting it in two.

"Pay attention, you idiot, or else you'll get us killed," Kenichi hissed.

Naruto, who had jumped back to avoid the follow up swing by the battle ax, replied, "I could say the same to you."

Kenichi's eyes widened, and he hopped to the side, avoiding the downward slash by the Kage Bunshin behind him. He smashed the end of his ax into the clone without looking and sneered at Naruto. "Since when did Oto shinobi know the Kage Bunshin?" he asked with a curl in his lips.

Naruto knew no way to answer that question, so he responded by throwing the kunai in his hand at Yuki and leapt at Ieyasu. Ieyasu stabbed his spear at Naruto, but Naruto deflected it with a push of his hand, getting into Ieyasu's guard immediately.

"Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba (Wind Release: Sword of Wind)!" A displacement of air occurred, and the result was a sharp blade composed of wind. It stabbed straight into Ieyasu's heart, who looked surprised. That surprise then turned to a grin as his body turned into mud.

A crow of victory sounded behind him, and he spun around quickly, only to feel the metal of the spear scratch his shoulder and draw blood. Putting a hand on the spear and yanking forward, Ieyasu was quickly off balance, which Naruto took advantage of by shoving a kunai into the man's stomach. This time, the surprise stayed on his face as he stumbled backwards in shock. Ieyasu stared down at the kunai digging into his stomach, and dazedly pulled it out. A spurt of blood erupted from the wound, and he fell, clutching his stomach in pain.

Kenichi snorted, and Naruto knew right away this was one man who did not deserve to live. His teammate just received a life-threatening wound, and the man just laughed it off as if he could care less! He hefted his battle ax onto one shoulder and bent down at the knees, looking as if he was preparing for a sumo charge.

Naruto's guess was soon turned to truth, as Kenichi suddenly dashed forward with the ax still resting on his shoulder. Coupled with the man's giant stature, it looked like the man was an Akimichi!

As soon as Kenichi was within ten steps of Naruto, he reared his arm back, axe in tow, preparing to deliver a giant blow.

-

In the meanwhile, Yuki was hiding in the underbrush, carefully waiting for an opening to which she could attack the treacherous Oto nin. A sudden rustling of the leaves behind her made her spin around, and she stabbed into the bushes with her katana. A blur leapt out of said bushes and landed on a branch several yards above. Looking up, she saw it was that same Oto nin. It was another clone then.

"Allow me to show you the might of the Hattori clan," she stated.

-

The fair-haired man carefully approached the small apartment that belonged to the Uchiha boy. It was late in the afternoon, and he guessed that Sasuke would perhaps be at home at this time.

Knocking on the door, he asked if Uchiha Sasuke lived there. A few moments later, a sour-looking Sasuke opened the door and grunted an irritated "What?"

"I have an offer for you, and I'd like to discuss it with you inside."

"Not interested," Sasuke replied with a bored air to him before moving to close the door.

"But it concerns _your brother_," the man informed Sasuke. His reply, if listened to carefully, sounded more like a hiss than a sentence of words.

Sasuke froze at the question. Instead of closing the door, he walked back inside.

The man, taking this as a cue that he was invited in, excitedly came in and closed the door behind him. A few handseals and a suitable sound ward was erected. They would need it if this was to go correctly.

Sitting down on the couch, Sasuke motioned over to the seat in front of him. The man quietly took his seat before looking right into the Uchiha's eyes. "I know you want more power to defeat your brother. I can give it to you, too. All you need to do is swear your allegiance to me, and return to my village. You will be given everything you wanted, and you will eventually be strong enough to eliminate Itachi." Once again, his sentences seemed to devolve into a hiss-like noise, but it was understandable enough that Sasuke got the gist of what he was saying.

The man's offer was enticing, but Sasuke wasn't stupid. This situation was like that saying, "Don't take candy from a stranger." Only this saying was more geared to "Don't accept power from a creepy weirdo."

"I will gain power by my own hands, and will kill him _without _your help," Sasuke stated. Naruto's words from their fight back at the Academy struck him true, and Sasuke had eventually realized the arrogant way he used to act would never help him grow stronger. He toned his attitude down (a _little _bit), and tried to grow strong by himself. He would not accept this freak's offer.

"Oh, that's too bad. I wasn't going to give you a choice anyway," he hissed again, and his neck suddenly elongated.

Sasuke's stoic nature was immediately broken when he yelled, "W-what the fuck?!" at the sight of the man with the stretchy neck.

The man opened his mouth, revealing long pointy fangs.

"Katon: Housenka!" A string of fireballs was spat out of Sasuke's mouth, but they were all smoothly dodged by the man's weird neck.

"Oh come now, Sasuke-kun, you can do better than that," Orochimaru taunted.

Enraged, Sasuke dived across the room and snatched up his kunai pouch from where it had been laying, quickly snapping it around his leg. He pulled out three kunai in one hand and flung them at Orochimaru. Even though he was clearly angry, he knew that he could not defeat someone as strong as this...man. Using the kunai as a distraction, he headed towards the door, trying to make an escape and call for help. However, Orochimaru wouldn't have any of that.

The kunai were totally ignored as Orochimaru appeared in front of Sasuke, blocking the path to the door. Sasuke, having decided that a window would suit his purposes just as well, leapt to the side to avoid a lunge of the freak in front of him. As he flew to the side, he reached into his pouch and threw a kunai into the window, shattering the glass. He was just about to leapt outside when a hand grabbed his ankle and pulled him back, flinging him into the furniture around the room.

Sasuke laid there groaning, until Orochimaru decided to stop fooling around and to accomplish his mission. A quick bite on the neck with his poisoned fangs and Sasuke fell to the ground limply, screaming all the while.

Having completed what he wanted to do, Orochimaru disappeared without a sound.

A patrolling ANBU nearby heard the shattering of glass and the scream that soon followed. The ANBU approached the Uchiha's apartment, and when he saw a glowing black mark forming on Sasuke's shoulder, he knew what had happened. The boy had been marked with Orochimaru's curse seal.

The ANBU radioed in for some help, and soon a group of ANBU arrived at the apartment.

"Report," the leader of the reinforcements commanded to his subordinate.

"I heard the breaking of glass and a scream, so I came to investigate. I came upon this scene and reported it, sir."

"Very well. Now go inform Hokage-sama that Uchiha Sasuke has been attacked and given the curse seal." The leader's voice was grim, as this meant that Orochimaru somehow infiltrated Konoha. Ooh boy, heads were going to roll when the Hokage found out that the Internal Security department wasn't doing their job efficiently!

-

Kenichi was running straight at Naruto, ax reared for a blow. Naruto stood there, watching. Suddenly the ax came down, cleaving Naruto in two. Or, that's what Kenichi thought before the kid blew up in a large explosion of flames. Kenichi was sent flying backwards, his beard singed a little and his clothes looked tattered.

"What the fuck?" the man asked in bewilderment.

"It's called Bunshin Daibakuha," Naruto calmly informed the man from behind as he plunged the kunai into the man's shoulder, only for the man to dissolve into a pile of mud.

"It's called Tsuchi Bunshin," Kenichi responded in kind, sneer going full tilt as he smashed the butt of the pole attached to the ax head into Naruto. This Naruto dissolved into a pile of mud too.

Kenichi growled. So the boy wanted a clone war, did he? A sudden flux of chakra, and a group of Kenichi bunshins appeared from the ground. Naruto responded by making twice as many Kage Bunshins, some more than likely to be the exploding kind.

"Attack!" Kenichi yelled, and his earth clones charged into Naruto's Kage Bunshins.

Two factors were important to the outcome of this mini-showdown. For one thing, Naruto had two times the number of clones that Kenichi had. Second, Kage Bunshins were basically a duplicate of the original, power and all. However, Tsuchi Bunshins, like Mizu Bunshins, had their strength divide equally between the clones. This meant that while one Kage Bunshin was worth the same as the original Naruto, one Tsuchi Bunshin was worth one tenth the power of the original Kenichi.

The Tsuchi Bunshins were eliminated without fail, and not a single loss to the Kage Bunshins were taken.

Surrounded by Kage Bunshins, Kenichi growled in anger.

He took a swipe at the nearest clone with his giant battle ax, and the clone was destroyed.

_Boom-Boom-Bo-Boo-Boom-Boom-Boo-Boo-Bo-Boom!_

The Kage Bunshin he destroyed turned out to be an exploding clone, and the explosion set off the other exploding clones, thus creating a quick succession of explosions. Kenichi, suffice to say, did not make it out alive. Before the explosions could even die down, Naruto had already disappeared off to find Yuki and the clone she was fighting.

-

"Allow me to show you the might of the Hattori clan," she stated.

Yuki suddenly leapt up straight at Naruto. Yelling a battle cry, her sword then slammed into the Oto nin. Fully expecting the boy to split in half, she was thus surprised when the boy turned into a large piece of wood. Her sense screaming for her turn around, she just barely managed to block the kunai that was about to stab her in the back with her katana. However, this cost her her balance, and her enemy took advantage of this fact by doing a lightning fast sweep with his leg. She fell to the ground, and the kunai was immediately at her throat. Her katana was still in her hand, and she unconsciously gripped it harder.

"Do not make me kill you. Only two sacrifices are necessary," the cool voice of the Oto boy came.

She stared into his blue eyes, and then her gaze drifted up to his headband, where the Oto symbol was prominently displayed. However, something in her guts told her that there was something wrong here. She studied the headband a little harder, and the answer came to her.

"You're using a Henge on your headband! You're not Oto!" she bursted.

He stared at her for a second before letting his right hand drift over to the back of his left. He unsealed a sword, and Yuki immediately recognized it. It was the Kuroryujin no Daichi.

"The Kuroryujin!" she gasped. "How'd you get that?" she asked.

"I defeated the previous owner and he gave it to me," came the calm reply.

"But...ojisan was the last one to have it! You defeated ojisan?" she asked incredulously.

"Yes."

"Then...t-then please do with me what you will. I will live to serve you."

Naruto, not expecting her to offer him her loyalty so quickly, moved his kunai back into the pouch. He still kept the katana out in his hand though. "How do I know you won't betray me?" he asked curiously.

"It is a binding contract for the entire Hattori clan. And since you have the sword, any Hattori you meet will bow to your will if you show them this sword."

"Oh. So what happens if you do not wish to comply?"

"There is no 'do not wish to comply'. If we do not willingly do it ourselves, the contract's effects will take place and will force us to do it anyway."

"How did your clan ever come up with such a...barbaric tool? It could easily be used against you, you know," Naruto told the kneeling Yuki.

"I'm afraid I do not know the answer to that question. Could you please tell me your name, so that I can address you appropriately?"

"Naruto."

"Hai, Naruto-sama. Now what do you command me to do?"

"I want you to kill yourself," he said.

Her hand shook for a second, before slowly reaching to the katana at her feet. She trembled, picking it up and placed the tip at her stomach, ready to perform seppeku.

Just as she was about to push the tip into her stomach, Naruto commanded, "Stop."

She did as she was told and looked at him, still trembling. It seemed she did not want to die, but she really was going to do it anyway. "I just wanted to prove that you were telling the truth," Naruto explained to her. She guessed that this was odd way of apologizing for making her almost kill herself.

"Now, since I have killed your other two teammates, you've already failed the exams," Naruto started off.

"It does not matter," Yuki replied before he could go further. "I live to serve you."

"Hmmm...Then I have a task for you. Go back to your superiors and tell them that Oto betrayed you. Tell them exactly what I said when I was still pretending to be an Oto genin. You will be...my sleeper in Iwa."

A sleeper is a shinobi who has infiltrated the target country and 'gone to sleep', sometimes for many years. This means that they do nothing to communicate with their sponsor or any other agents, nor do they go digging for information from private sources. They acquire jobs and identities (although in Yuki's case, she continues to live her life), and attempt to blend into everyday life as a normal citizen. The best sleeper agents are those agents who can finance themselves, as this avoids any possible traceable payments from their sponsor.

"Hai, Naruto-sama."

"Oh, and do not, under any circumstances, tell your family. If they are going to follow me as you are, I will come to Iwa myself to confirm their loyalty. Understand?"

"Hai, Naruto-sama."

"Now before we leave, tell me anything else you know about the invasion."

In the end, Naruto learned only a few things. For one, the invasion was to start during the third part of the exams, which was going to be a one-on-one tournament. Gaara, the Kazekage's son, was to lead the forces, as he was actually an ANBU-level genin. His brother and sister were both jounins posing as genins. Yuki further explained that Gaara had this weird power to control sand, which he discovered only recently. When asked about Iwa's part in the war, she told Naruto that Iwa was going to provide the most shinobi as the attacking force. Oto, he learned, was going to summon Orochimaru's snakes outside the gates to further cause mayhem and destruction, while Orochimaru would attack the Sandaime Hokage.

After getting his answers, he departed, leaving Yuki to wait out the remainder of the exam.

'_I have my first._'

-

'_I must inform Hokage-sama of this crucial information,_' Naruto thought to himself.

**Didn't you say you wanted to witness the destruction of this village? If you report the presence of Orochimaru, then he has a lesser chance of razing this village to the ground.  
**

Naruto hesitated before replying. '_I was young then. However, I will still leave this village when I turn 16 and gather the other eight. I need to get my father's scrolls first though, and the old man won't give them to me until I'm of age, no matter what. Otherwise, I would've left a while ago._'

Kyuubi went silent after this. Ah well, at least he'd still get people to fear him. That was always a plus.

-

Naruto was speeding towards the tower when he heard the sounds of yelling, screaming, grunting, and the clashing of metal. He kept running though. After all, they weren't his problem.

That all changed when a Taki genin went flying into his path. Had he not ducked, the body of the genin would have crashed into him. Naruto spun to see the perpetrator, yet all he could see was a thick fog in a clearing several yards away.

He jumped down off the branches and into the fog.

Two screams echoed throughout the fog before all became silent.

"Hm? Another fly to the trap? Wow, I'm attracting weaklings by the dozens!" a voice shouted.

Naruto, annoyed, ignored the voice. He came here to beat the shit out of the dumbass who threw a genin at him, not to talk.

"Do you know who I am?" the voice asked, clearly annoyed by the lack of answers from his new opponent.

"...No. I guess that would be because I can't see you," Naruto replied. "Dumb shit," he muttered lowly.

"You can call me Shiso."

'_Ah whoops, should've checked on the strings,_' Naruto thought to himself.

"You're not going to leave here alive, you know," the amused voice of Shiso came echoing through the fog.

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!" At first, nothing seemed to happen. It seems that Shiso put a large amount of chakra into his technique, and Naruto would need to put even more chakra into his own to blow the fog away. And so he did. The fog eventually was dispersed by a strong gust of wind.

Shiso stood calmly at the edge of the clearing, his massive zanbatou stuck in the ground beside him. He looked a lot like Zabuza, with the bandages wrapped around his face and the bare chest. The two corpses of the Taki genin lay next to him. Two more genin, Shiso's teammates by the looks of it, stood off to the side, watching the upcoming battle between Shiso and Naruto.

"Konoha weakling," Shiso muttered, seeing the hitae-ate that had long been dispelled.

"Who was the one who just blew away your silly fog?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

Shiso's eyes flashed dangerously. In a split second, his zanbatou was pulled out of the ground and being swung at Naruto.

Naruto, not expecting the genin to be so fast, just barely backed away. Shiso's zanbatou managed to nick Naruto across the chest. A thin line of blood started to seep through his clothes.

"Katon: Goukakyuu," Naruto called out. He inhaled a deep breath and exhaled, spitting out a large flame over the general area where Shiso was.

"Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)." Shiso spat out a large amount of water, which then managed to form a protective shield around him against the fire.

As a result of hot fire meeting water, the water doused the fire and the fire evaporated the water, creating a large amount of vapor.

"Hahaha...perfect..." Shiso murmured. Then he spoke up again. "The throat, the spinal column, the lungs, the liver, the jugular vein, the sub-clavier artery, the kidney, and the heart...if you are hit in any of these spots, you should expect either death or to be crippled for life. For me, hitting these places is like hitting the side of a building. It's impossible to miss!"

A whooshing sound was heard by Naruto. It was the sound of the vapor being displaced as the zanbatou was swung at him. Naruto backflipped twice to avoid the massive weapon, and Shiso groaned at the lack of impact.

"Darn, and I thought I almost had you there for a second," he muttered.

By this time, the shallow cut from earlier was already healed. However, the blood still remained on his shirt.

"Katon: Goukakyuu." Naruto blew out a large fan-shaped flame. It started to encompass the area, and the two teammates of Shiso had to separate to avoid being burned. "Katon: Kasen." He brought his hands up and started to make motions with his hands. He looked like he was...pushing the air together? The flames from his previous attack started to condense and become long and thin. A tip formed at one end, and the other end broke up into pieces, looking like a tree branch. The end result of Naruto's hand motions was several dozen arrows - made of flames - that were floating in the air calmly, as if waiting for its master to command it.

Naruto flung one hand out towards Shiso's teammates and one hand at Shiso himself. Shiso's eyes widened, as he had never seen this jutsu before. He barely dodge the flaming arrows. The same happened to his two teammates. However, they were just ordinary genin up against another genin who was much stronger than they were, so they ended up being skewered multiple times by the flaming arrows.

Finally, a single flaming arrow skimmed Shiso's side. Since he did not have a top on, this made the wound even worse.

"Fuck," Shiso swore as he held his side.

"Katon: Shoidan." Not giving him any time to react, Naruto held his hand in the air, palm facing the sky. A large flame appeared in his hand, and it slowly began to shrink until it was the size of an orange.

Shiso retaliated by speeding through several seals. "Suiton: Baku Suishouha (Bursting Water Collision Waves)!"

As soon as he yelled out his jutsu, Shiso bent down and seemed to vomit. However, what came out of his mouth was wave after wave of water. Soon the clearing became a giant foot deep puddle. However, right after the water situated, the water began to expand. Its volume was increased, and the water grew. It formed a humongous tidal wave, with Shiso standing at the top.

"Your little fireball ain't gonna beat me!" Shiso yelled madly.

Naruto just lobbed his fireball into Shiso's wave.

"Is that it? One measly little ball? Hahah-" His laughter was cut off as the fireball exploded. His giant wave and all of the water in the clearing immediately evaporated, showing just how powerful Naruto's fire bomb was.

The technique, while not requiring enough chakra to rate it as S ranked, _did _require a meticulous amount of control. This is because fire is a naturally destructive element, just like lightning, and all techniques would need some amount of control. But forcing it to be something it did not want to be required a large amount of control.

When the fire show settled down, the entire clearing went from a lush green to a blackened crisp. The surrounding trees in the immediate area were all killed by the flames, the grass was dead, and the bodies of the two Kiri genin and the two Taki genin were burnt black beyond recognition. Shiso himself was knocked away from the explosion into a tree a little deeper in the forest, and his arm was bent at an awkward angle. His hair was singed, and his pants caught a small flame, which was put out when the exploding water rained down on him.

Naruto slowly approached the groaning Kiri genin.

"So you won. Kill me already and be done with it," Shiso muttered, lying there against the three and clutching his twisted arm. He clearly accepted his death.

"Hmm...I have heard that you are an excellent swordsman, am I right?" Naruto asked. He squatted down next to Shiso.

"Yeah, so what of it?" Shiso responded, still holding his arm.

"Swear your loyalty to me. I need a kenjutsu teacher, and I think you can greatly help me with my plans for the future."

"Why should I?" Shiso asked, not particularly fond of this idea.

"For one, I won't kill you. For another, I plan on making my own village in the future. I will need strong shinobi who are loyal to me and have special skills. Yours include kenjutsu and silent killing. You might even be able to fight strong opponents," Naruto added. He had noticed that Shiso seemed to have a particularly fond liking of fighting.

Shiso was quiet for the next few minutes, thinking over the idea. "Fine," he allowed at last. "I will do as you command."

"Good. After the exams are over, I want you to head back to Kiri. You, like another, will be my sleeper agent. I won't call on you for several years, but when I do, I want you to be prepared to answer my call. Oh, and my name is Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto introduced himself. He picked himself up and turned to leave, before Shiso left a parting comment.

"Just 'cause I'm going to follow you doesn't mean I'm gonna call you Naruto-sama, you understand?"

Naruto chuckled menacingly, before turning back around and disappearing with a leap.

'_My second._'

-

By sundown, Naruto was at the center of the forest at the tower. He was going to enter when he saw the numerous jounin of other countries. He could not just walk in and tell the Hokage that he had news for him. That would've been suspicious. Seeing no other way to contact the Hokage without alerting the foreigners, Naruto just sighed. He would have to just arrive with Hanabi and tell him then. But until then, he first needed to get some sleep.

Naruto sat down on the branch he was spying the tower from and laid his head against the trunk of the tree. The leaves protected him from being seen, and he would not be disturbed anytime soon.

-

The next day, the chirping of the birds and the screams of one of the participants awoke Naruto. He checked his chakra strings and noticed that he had four left. The other two were Yuki's two teammates, who he had killed yesterday. Seeing as how they had already sworn their loyalty to him, Naruto cut off two more chakra strings, leaving him with two: one for Subaku no Gaara, and the other for Nii Madoka. The one for Gaara apparently led straight towards the tower, so that meant that Naruto could not fight him in this exam.

'_Ah well, I still have the third exam,_' he thought.

The other chakra string, the one leading to Madoka, led off to the west, so Naruto had no choice but to go around the tower and follow the string.

-

Four hours and five dead teams later, Naruto was beyond annoyed. Several weak teams kept coming up to him, bragging about how he was no match for them, and then attacked him. Of course, they were all soon dispatched. Sure, they were easy targets, but they were becoming a nuisance. He now had six scrolls: 4 Earth scrolls and 2 Heaven scrolls. He should've had a total of eight scrolls, but he didn't bother taking Yuki's Heaven nor Shiso's Heaven scrolls.

His own team's Heaven scroll was with Hanabi, so he didn't have to worry about having lost it during those fights.

Now, after having defeated so many weaklings, he finally found the one he was looking for. She was sitting next to a campfire with her two teammates, both girls. However, these two girls looked more like they were interested in looks and beauty then being a kunoichi. The two girls' incessant talking was starting to get on his nerves. They talked about makeup, haircare, boys, perfume. boys, and more boys.

His target was looking at her two teammates like he was. With annoyance. Honestly, how did she survive for so long with those two girls as teammates?

Deciding that he would wait for her to separate from her teammates before confronting her, Naruto set himself up for a long wait.

Half an hour later, Madoka finally got up. She said a few words to her teammates before walking off, presumably to get some more wood for the dying embers of the fire.

When she was sufficiently far away, Naruto dropped down silently in front of her.

Madoka's eyes widened, and she started to speed through some seals. Before she could finish though, Naruto dashed up to her and grabbed her hands, following it up with a knee to her stomach and a chop to her neck. She immediately fell unconscious.

Naruto picked her surprisingly light body up bridal-style and leaped into the woods. He soon found himself at a cave that he had passed when he was looking for this Kumo genin. Entering the cave, Naruto set Madoka down gently and placed a minor genjutsu over the opening of the cave, so that anyone who saw it would ignore it.

He spent the rest of the day waiting for her to regain consciousness, which finally happened sometime after sunset.

"Huh?" she murmured in confusion. "Where am- You!"

Naruto held up his unarmed hands and tried to pacify her.

"What'd you do to me? And where am I?"

"I knocked you unconscious because I wanted to talk to you, and you are currently in a cave."

She started to do a hand sign when Naruto once again appeared in front of her, holding her hands apart.

"We've been through this before. I just want to talk." He let her go and stepped back.

Madoka stared at Naruto suspiciously.

"Well? Talk then."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I plan on creating my own village in four years' time. I need strong, young, and loyal shinobi to help, and I picked you as one of them. I'm asking you to join me."

"Why? Why should I leave my family, my village, and my friends to join you?"

"For one thing, I know that you're going to be married off against your will in three years."

"It's for the good of the clan!" she replied haughtily.

"Do you really expect me to believe that?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

Madoka just sighed. "No one except for my sister cares for me. My entire clan expects me to just accept the fact that I'm being married off to some rich, _old _guy! And you know why? It's just because they want more money! I thought that my mother would at least understand, but she's just told me to 'live with it and go with the flow'. I was going to accept it too, but now...now I'm not so sure..." she ended with a sniffle, tears coming to her eyes.

Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder. "And that is why I want you to join me. I can save you from your marriage, and you'll be treated right at my side. And all you need to do is swear your loyalty to me. I promise you, no one is going to force you into any unwanted marriages," Naruto said softly, his voice filled with compassion.

Whether that compassion was real or not though...

"A-Alright. Fine. I swear my loyalty to you...Naruto-sama."

Naruto smiled. "Very good. Now I want you to go back to your team and pretend that nothing is wrong. Get yourself to the tower. I've received news that sometime during the third exam that Konoha will be invaded by Oto, Suna, and Iwa. During the confusion I want you to fake your death. In front of your teammates. That way, your teammates will report your death to your family and you will not need to worry about being hunted down. Once the invasion is over, I want you to head towards this place, and I'll meet you at the tower, alright?"

"Hai, Naruto-sama. One thing though. We don't have our scroll yet..."

"What do you need?"

"An Earth scroll."

Naruto threw the required scroll at her. "There. Now I have three Earth and two Heaven scrolls left."

Madoka nodded her thanks before disappearing out of the cave. Naruto looked at her retreating back, and thought to himself, '_I have my third..._'

-

The next day, Naruto headed swiftly towards the tower. It was time to meet up with Hanabi again.

He waited in the trees surrounding the tower for a few hours, until a blur landed on the branch next to him.

"Welcome back, Hanabi," Naruto acknowledged with a nod.

Hanabi just pulled out the scrolls she collected. She had two Earth and three Heaven scrolls, one being their original scroll. Naruto showed her the scrolls he collected, and the two jumped down to the entrance of the tower.

Upon reading the directions, Naruto opened up one Heaven and Earth scroll and threw them onto the floor. With a poof of smoke, a chuunin appeared.

"Good job, you two," he nodded. "Now, do you have any injuries you want looked at?"

Naruto looked at Hanabi, who looked back, and both shook their heads.

"Alright then. You have two more days to relax. Your bedrooms are on the upper floors, the cafeteria is on the second floor, and training areas are scattered randomly in the tower. Make the best of your time," the chuunin told them. "Do you have any other scrolls?"

Naruto pulled out the two's collection. Not counting the set they used to summon the chuunin in front of them, they had a total of four extra sets. The chuunin whistled.

"Nice job. Way to eliminate the competition." He gathered the scrolls up before hurrying away.

"Cafeteria first?" Hanabi asked, when the chuunin finally disappeared from their sight.

Naruto nodded, and the two headed towards the cafeteria. When they got there, they met Gaara's team and the Oto team. Naruto exchanged nods with Gaara before going up to the counters and grabbing some food with Hanabi. The two sat down at a table in the corner, where they proceeded to eat their food in silence.

Unfortunately, the silence was broken when a cheerful Hana burst into the cafeteria. "I knew you guys could do it!" she chirped.

The silence continued. "Hey, don't ignore me!" she cried indignantly and smacked the two of them on their heads. "So, what are you two going to do now? Train, or rest up?" she asked.

"I think...I will train," Naruto said.

"Me too," Hanabi added.

"Wow, you two are little machines. All you do is train! You guys need to learn how to have fun!"

"Weren't you the one who kept telling us to be serious for the chuunin exams, Hana-sensei?" Naruto asekd pointedly.

"Haha, yeah..." Hana started sheepishly. "But now I have faith in you two! I'm sure you'll do just fine!"

The two genin stared back at her incredulously.

"Well, I gotta go now! See you two in at the third exam in two days," she waved, before disappearing out the door.

Suddenly, Gaara seemed to appear in front of them. He stared down at Naruto, who stared back. "I will look forward to fighting you, Uzumaki-san," he stated.

"And I look forward to fighting you as well."

Hanabi looked at Naruto with a questioning gaze.

Naruto answered her unasked question. "I met him a few days before the exam. He seems...dangerous."

Hanabi nodded her head. "Shall we spar a bit?"

-

Two days later, the second exam was finally over. Only two more teams made it after Naruto did, making a grand total of five teams participating in the third exam: Gaara's team, the Oto team, Naruto and Hanabi, Kabuto's team, and Madoka's team.

The five teams of genin stood in the arena, watching the proctor talk, while various other Konoha genin that did not participate in this chuunin exam stood on the walkways to watch. "In one month's time, the third exam will take place here in this arena. It will be a one-on-one tournament. The winner moves on to the next round. However, since there's fourteen people, that makes seven matches for the first round, three matches for the second round (one person gets a free pass), two matches for the third round, and one match for the final round. That would take too long to go through the entire thing, so we will be having a preliminary round here first. Again, one-on-one. The winner moves onto the third exam in a month. If you don't think you can participate due to injuries, you are free to drop out. Anyone?"

No one stepped forward.

"Very well, then," the proctor continued. "Let's start our first match, shall we?"

He turned towards the electronic board hanging on a wall above the stadium. Names started to flash, before they slowly slowed down. Two names were prominently displayed.

"Alright then people. The people with those two names, please stay down here. Everyone else, get up to the walkways please."

-

A/N: The name of this chapter is The Beginning. Can anyone guess what this is the beginning of? Cookie to whoever does.

**Original Techniques****: **(Please, if you know Japanese, tell me if any of these things make sense, cuz I'm really just making things up here.)

Katon: Kasen - Fire Release: Fire Arrow  
User forms arrows out of fire and flings them at the target. Must first have fire to shape before using. Usually combined with Katon: Goukakyuu.

Katon: Shoidan - Fire Release: Fire Bomb  
User forms a ball of flame, but condenses it into a very small, compact ball. User then throws the bomb. The moment it hits something, it will explode. Due to it being compressed, the explosion is much larger than normal. The flames are also hot enough to burn humans to a crisp. This technique requires a large amount of control.


	5. Chapter 5: The Tournament

Chapter 5: The Tournament

Up in the walkways, Teams 7, 8, 9, and 10 stood watching the proctor go over the rules of the third exam.

When the two names were called, the rest of the genins in the tournament jumped up into the walkways.

Two genin that they knew appeared beside them and their senseis.

"What the hell are you two doing in the exams?" Sakura screeched while pointing.

"Yeah, how the hell did you two get into the exam when we were told that no Konoha genin under 16 could get in!" the brash Kiba yelled.

"Abumi Zaku, are you ready?" the proctor asked. The Oto genin nodded. "Subaku no Gaara, are you ready?" The Suna genin nodded. "Then, begin!"

Kiba and Sakura persistently asked how they got in while Lee shouted about youthfulness. Everyone else ignored the three annoying genin and watched the battle below them.

-

"Zankuuha!" Zaku shouted and shoved his hands out. An invisible gust of wind blew the sand away and ruffled Gaara's clothes, but he did not move otherwise.

Gaara beckoned towards his sand, and it immediately came back to him. Twirling his hand around, the sand then became a sandstorm. He flicked his wrist at Zaku, and the sand followed.

"Zankuuha!" Zaku shouted again, and the sandstorm switched directions. Gaara stood there unfazed as the sandstorm he created rushed towards him. The sand crashed against him, burying beneath its mass.

"Ha!" Zaku crowed. "I win! Proctor, end the match already, this kid ain't getting back up!"

Back up in the walkways, a blond girl Naruto noticed as Gaara's teammate whispered to the boy with the make up. "Oh damn, that boy's dead. He just pissed off Gaara..."

"Alright, the winner of this round is Abumi Za-"

An explosion sounded, and Gaara appeared unharmed from the sand. His clothes looked a bit ruffled, and his eyes glinted with a trace of annoyance.

"Zankyokukuuha!" Nothing happened, and Zaku looked at his air cannons in confusion, until he noticed the small trickle of sand leading towards the holes in his palms. Although he wasn't the smartest tool in the shed, even he knew that if sand blocked the airways when he used one of his techniques, he would be in deep shit.

His arms bulged due to the clog up in his arm cannons.

"Oh, FU-"

_Boom!_

Zaku exploded in a shower of blood and guts. Most of the genin present promptly threw up, and even some of the jounin looked a bit sick. Gaara did not move an inch throughout the ordeal as he was splattered with the blood of his enemy. When the shower died down, he stood there, arms crossed over his chest, and looked up at the proctor expectantly.

"R-right. G-Gaara is the winner of the first round."

With a swirl of sand, Gaara appeared back up in the walkways between his brother and sister, both of whom looked largely unaffected by his blood-stained attire.

"Alright," the proctor continued, "the second match will start now." The electronic board mixed names again, and this time, the two fighters were both Konoha genin.

"Will Uzumaki Naruto and Tsurugi Misumi come down to the arena?"

-

"Uzumaki Naruto, are you ready? Tsurugi Misumi, are you ready? Then, begin!" The proctor threw his hand down and jumped back at the same time.

"I don't want to hurt you kid, since we're both Konoha genin. You look like you're pretty strong, and I'd really hate to have to hurt you too badly, so you should drop out now," Misumi warned.

Naruto said nothing and he remained passive.

"Alright, your loss," Misumi warned and started to dash towards Naruto. Once he got within range, he then proceeded to get into a taijutsu match with him.

Naruto oddly thought that this would be a tougher match. The genin in front of him was already in his twenties, so he should have a lot of experience. Even though he was that old and was still genin, it didn't mean he was _weak _by any chance, since he could've had some bad luck during the exams. Still, Misumi's taijutsu was barely a challenge to Naruto.

'_I'm sure he has a last resort type weapon. No way would he be able to have passed otherwise..._' Naruto thought.

Trying to goad Misumi into unleashing said last resort weapon, Naruto dealt a swift punch to the older man's gut and followed it up with a heel kick to the shoulder. A sick crack told him that Misumi's left arm was dislocated. Before Misumi could do anything more, Naruto appeared behind the older genin and grabbed his unharmed arm, before twisting it so that it too popped out of his shoulder. Misumi now had two dislocated arms, but he was smiling.

'_He's going to use it now..._' Naruto thought.

Without a word, hand seal, or sign of chakra, Misumi's bones popped back into place.

"I have the ability to control my joints and I can manipulate my body at will. Watch!"

Naruto was surprised that his enemy had would reveal his power so easily.

Misumi's body then became rubber-like, and he stretched his arms all the way to Naruto, ensnaring him by wrapping around him with his body.

Up on the walkways, Sasuke's eyes widened at the sight of the genin. It was just like that freaky man Orochimaru! Turning to Kakashi, he quickly informed him of his observation. THe ex-ANBU captain stiffened. Could the genin be a spy? What about the rest of his team? The jounin sensei too? However, Kakashi said nothing to Sasuke, but instead told him not to worry about it.

Back with Naruto, he had quickly formed a Kage Bunshin and switched with him, leaving a clone to Misumi's tender mercies. Of course, all of this was done without Misumi being aware of the switch, so when he felt the kunai to his neck, he turned around to see another Naruto there. The Naruto he had wrapped disappeared with a puff of smoke.

"I...concede," Misumi admitted defeat.

"The winner of this round is Uzumaki Naruto."

Two names flashed on the board above.

"Next match. Will Kinuta Dosu and Yakushi Kabuto please come down?"

-

The next match went by quickly. Kabuto had underestimated Dosu, and as a result went flying from the sound vibrations emanating from Dosu's bracers. The older genin was down for the count.

Following that was Gaara's sister, Temari versus one of Madoka's two teammates. The girl was consequently cut up, beaten, and made fun of, while Temari ranted about how girls like her were what made the general opinions of kunoichi so low. The girl would later resign from being a shinobi. Temari obviously won that one.

The next match consisted of Madoka and Akadou Yoroi, Kabuto's final teammate. Yoroi managed to surprise Madoka with his chakra sucking abilities, but once he had revealed it, all Madoka needed to do to win was to stay away and fire long range jutsus at the older genin.

The second to last preliminary match was between Tsuchi Kin, the final member of the Oto team, and Madoka's third teammate. Tsuchi Kin, like Temari defeated Madoka's final teammate without trouble and cut off her long precious hair to demoralize the girl even further. Like her teammate, this girl would also resign from active duty when she returned to Kumo.

The final match was between Kankuro, Gaara's older brother, and Hanabi.

"Will Sabaku no Kankuro and Hyuuga Hanabi please come down to the arena?"

-

"I told you this would be a good learning experience," Asuma, the sensei of Team 10, said triumphantly while he looked at the lazy Nara. "You get to see what it's like being in the chuunin exams and prepare for when it's your turn to take it."

"Yeah, but it's in _four _years! Why do we need to prepare now?" Ino, one of the members of Team 10, whined loudly.

Asuma just sighed. He sometimes questioned himself as to why he agreed to take on a genin team.

-

Somewhere beyond Konoha, two men appeared over the horizon.

"Finally!" one huffed. "We're here!"

"It's all because you kept getting us lost, you idiot! 'Oh, I know the way, trust me. It's this way. No wait, it's this way!' We wasted over 2 weeks wandering around because you refused to stop and ask for directions!"

"It's not my fault that the roads move themselves!" the first man denied loudly.

The second man paused.

_Whack!_

"You're an idiot!" the second man yelled at the first. "Stupid brother, why do I have to get all the bad luck in the world? We can only hope that Hanabi-sama does not punish us for being so late."

"Yeah...hehehe."

-

"Sabaku no Kankuro, are you ready? Hyuuga Hanabi, are you ready? Then, begin!"

Hanabi dashed at Kankuro with her rapier in hand. Her opponent brought up his hands to defend himself, and Hanabi could barely hit him. Each time she struck, the boy would redirect the rapier off to the side, or he would dodge the blow.

'_I need to practice my fencing,_' she thought to herself. It was just not up to par with the rest of her skills. Sealing away the rapier, she then turned her Byakugan on. Kankuro's secrets were immediately discovered.

"A puppet?" she asked curiously. "Surprising."

"Damn it, discovered already," the puppet's mouth moved, while the voice came from the bundle on the puppet's back, which exploded outwards, revealing Kankuro.

Kankuro jumped back and sent his puppet forward. "Go Karasu!"

The three eyed puppet charged at Hanabi with his razor blades exposed.

"Sorry, but this is the worst possible match up for you," Hanabi calmly stated. "With the Byakugan, your chakra strings are easily visible, and with the Jyuuken, your chakra strings are easily destroyed."

To prove her point, Hanabi dodged the charging Karasu and her hand snapped down to hit a certain point on the puppet. Kankuro immediately lost control of the limb, and he cursed heavily.

"Damn you mother fucking piece of fucking shit!" he yelled angrily.

"And you kiss your mother with that mouth?" Hanabi asked tauntingly.

"Fuck you! My mom's been dead since I was a kid!" he shouted back.

"So? My mother died giving birth to me," she retorted.

"Oh yeah? I have a shitty father who is the worst father ever! I have a crazy sister who has anger problems!" Temari shouted her protests back up in the walkways. "I have a fucked up brother who likes killing people as much as my sister likes acting like a guy!" Another shout of protest from Temari. "My entire family is fucked up! So beat that, you little bitch!" Kankuro ended his rant.

The proctor sweatdropped off to the side. '_What an angst-fest,_' he thought. However, he was most definitely not expecting what came next.

"So you wanna play like that?" Hanabi returned. "My father is a bastard who would as much torture his daughters as he would look at them. My cousin is a bitching loser who always goes on about fate and shit! My sister is a weak piece of shit who can't do jack shit! And when my sister becomes clan heir, I'm reduced to being a slave! Your family isn't as fucked up as mine! So shut your damn mouth, you sissy make-up-wearing bastard!" Hanabi shouted back.

'_Wow. It's a SUPER angst-fest,_' the majority of those present thought.

Hinata and Neji, though, had different thoughts.

Hinata thought, _'Is that what Hanabi really thinks of me? Is that really going to happen to her? Poor Hanabi..._' Hinata then burst into tears.

Neji, on the other hand, thought, '_Fate has decreed that Hanabi-sama will suffer the same way my father did!_'

Taking a deep breath. Hanabi soon had her anger back under control.

A cough interrupted the two. "Ummm, could you two get back to fighting?" the proctor asked.

The two combatants glared at him, and he seemed to shirk back.

When Kankuro's eyes shifted back towards Hanabi's direction, he was surprised to see that she was already charging at him, with her hands in a cross-shaped seal.

"Kage Bunshin!" Three clones appeared besides Hanabi, and all four bumrushed Kankuro.

The puppeteer found it impossible to dodge Jyuuken strikes from four Hanabi's. Strike upon strike upon strike smashed into him, closing his tenketsu points so that he could no longer control his puppet. This was evidenced by the slumping of Karasu. Unable to remain standing, Kankuro fell to the ground flimsily.

"Winner, Hyuuga Hanabi!"

Now that the round was over, the Hokage jumped down to the arena. He went on to explain the real reasons of the chuunin exams, which shocked only the Konoha genin not in the exam itself. The rest (namely Naruto and Hanabi) did not really find it surprising.

"Now, you have one month to train before the third exams take place, so I wish you all the best of luck. See you all in a month!"

And thus, the preliminary rounds ended.

-

A/N: Short chapter. The next one'll be longer. I promise.

The angst fest was just a small bit of humor on my part. Although...it does tie into the plot eventually...


	6. Chapter 6: In Between

Chapter 6: In Between

Hyuuga Hanabi was in the backyard of the Hyuuga main branch house in the Hyuuga clan compound, standing in her Jyuuken stance while facing her father Hiashi.

"Move faster. Strike harder," he would repeatedly say to Hanabi.

And she tried. Really. But no matter what she did or how well she did it, her father would repeat the same things again and again. It infuriated her to an endless degree, because she not only was being ridiculed by her own father, but she had to hide her own style of the Jyuuken, since it was "frowned upon" to use anything except the Jyuuken and the three basic techniques.

However, even Hanabi had a breaking point.

"Again. Do it again," Hiashi had said one moment earlier.

And Hanabi's anger exploded.

She roared and charged at her father, her hands glowing a soft blue as she prepared to attack him with the Jyuuken style. Unfortunately, the moment she was in range to strike, she automatically switched to her original style.

A knee slammed into Hiashi's gut and an elbow smashed his nose. Hiashi stumbled back in surprise as he held his nose, which was bleeding profusely.

Hanabi growled and charged again. This time, her father managed to jump over her leg sweep before she used her other leg to smash it upwards into his stomach. Despite being of such a small stature, the powerful kick was enough to send her father reeling.

Continuing her attack, Hanabi jabbed her father's chest, which was left unprotected by his flailing arms. He let out a small "oomph" at the impact and stumbled backwards. Hanabi took two steps and punched her father in the jaw before he went crashing down.

She stood over him, breathing heavily. Hiashi's eyes opened and he stared at his youngest daughter, before getting up to his feet. His nose was dripping blood onto his expensive robe, but he ignored it.

Before she could even blink, a hand smashed into her face, sending her careening into the wall.

"Perhaps the seal should be put on you a little earlier," Hiashi mused aloud. "Your disobedience is disheartening, daughter. I did not believe that you could possibly have learned another style in secret, but alas, you have proved me wrong. The council will decided your fate for this transgression," he concluded before turning about face and walking out the door.

Hanabi looked down, trying to hold back the hot tears that were threatening to run down her face. Her life was unfair. She was doomed to be a slave...

No! She would not take this lying down!

-

Naruto looked around carefully, making sure no one saw him, before he slipped quietly into the woods surrounding Konoha. He had instructed Madoka to meet him here after shaking off her two teammates, so that the two of them could refine her part in Naruto's plan.

A few minutes after entering the forest, Naruto found the designated area where he had instructed her to meet him. Nary a minute had passed before she appeared.

"Alright. Now, listen to me. You will be up on the walkways with your teammates. When Oto, Suna and Iwa invade, I want you to act confused like your teammates would be. Since it is not your duty to protect Konoha, I will assume that your sensei will tell you and your teammates to evacuate as soon as possible. On your way to evacuation, try to get yourself in a fight with a team of enemy nins. Use this exploding tag," Naruto paused here to hand the aforementioned item to her before continuing. "When the tag explodes, there will be a large explosion, and I want you to get out of there in the confusion."

"But what about my body? Surely someone on my team would try to confirm my death before moving on..." Madoka interrupted.

"Yes, and that's why I modified this seal a little bit. On the reverse side of this tag is a storage seal, and when the tag blows up, the contents will be expelled. And what I happened to store in here happens to be several chunks of meat. Your teammates will most likely not do a thorough check. Rather, they'd give a cursory glance at the meat and if they see a piece of your clothing, they'll immediately think that you were killed."

Using her not-so-small logical skills, she concluded slowly, "So I should put part of my clothes into the storage seal with the chunks of meat, right Naruto-sama?"

"Yes," he replied.

Receiving confirmation, she took out a kunai and slashed the bottom of her skirt, pulling off a rather lengthy piece and showing her thighs at the same time.

"Don't forget to put some blood on it," Naruto added.

She nicked her finger and let the blood drip onto her torn skirt. Once it was sufficiently bloodied, she sealed into the back of the exploding tag as Naruto had told her to do.

"Good. Now, don't forget. I will meet you at the tower where the preliminaries took place, and I'll lead you to a safe spot where no one will know about your existence. After several years, we will leave Konoha together and search out the rest of my sleepers. I'll see you in a month," Naruto informed her.

Madoka nodded once before turning around and going back the way she came.

-

Hanabi angrily stormed out of her house. It was not like her to show such open displays of emotional outbursts, but she figured that after what just happened she deserved a little leeway.

She was going to receive the Caged Bird seal, and even though it wasn't official yet, she knew it was going to happen. After all, the noble Hyuuga clan would never let a member lose their secrets to another clan or country.

The young genin stamped out towards the forest, where she hoped some mindless destruction would help soothe her mind. Maybe she could go spar with Naruto after that?

Within twenty minutes, she was deep in the forest outside of Konoha. Although not many people knew it, but the forests in the backyard of the Hyuuga compound connected to the forests surrounding the walls of Konoha, and it made for a good place to ambush the city from. It was also, incidentally, an ideal way to leave the village without anyone being alerted to it.

She was just about to decided that this was deep enough in the forest when she heard voices. It wasn't exactly common to find people here, so she activated her Byakugan and saw two people talking. One had an exploding tag in her hand and a kunai in the other, while the other, who she recognized as Naruto was looking over her.

What was he doing here?

Had Naruto not been so concentrated on the task before him, he would've sensed the approaching Hanabi, but alas, that was not to be.

"-I will meet you at the tower where the preliminaries took place, and I'll lead you to a safe spot where no one will know about your existence. After several years, we will leave Konoha together and search out the rest of my sleepers. I'll see you in a month."

She stifled a gasp. For one thing, she recognized the girl as the only Kumo genin to pass the preliminaries. She was the one who fought Kabuto's chakra-sucking teammate. For another, Naruto had just said (not directly, but insinuated) that he was planning on leaving Konoha to become a missing nin.

Her mind spun at that revelation. Naruto, her teammate, was planning on leaving the village to become a missing nin in a few years. What should she do with this information? Tell the Hokage? Or keep it to herself? Maybe even use it to her own advantage.

Yes, using it to her own advantage sounded good. But how?

Hanabi's mind continued to race, trying to make her own plan on how to use this information. Slowly, the pieces of a plan started to come together. Naruto was an excellent strategist, although he did not know it himself. She usually took orders from him because he knew best, and if he planned on leaving the village, there was no doubt that he had plans on how to escape without being detected and other back up plans. He probably had a back up plan for the back up plan!

Naruto would probably never realize it, but Hanabi was right. He was an excellent strategist. Proof of this was the Gato manor mission.

The final piece of her plan came when she thought back to what her father had said to her. She knew what to do.

"Naruto," she called out.

The boy in question immediately spun around, blades elongated and poised to strike.

His muscles tensed, but Hanabi said something extremely shocking, but welcoming, that forced him to stop. "I wish to join you."

-

Click, clack, click, clack.

His shoes made an annoying click-clack sound as he walked through the tiled floor of the building. His trench coat swayed slightly behind him as he moved, and his bandanna ruffled slightly. He nodded at the receptionist, who having received news of the man's purpose here, pointed at a door down the hall.

The man continued past the receptionist, before arriving at a wooden door. Inscribed on top of the door was three numbers. 104.

He sighed, preparing himself for what was to come. Already he could hear the noise coming from the room. Oh, he really did not like doing this.

He opened the door and stepped in. All of the noise immediately stopped. The people inside all turned towards him, staring at him with unbridled curiosity. And he stared back. Not with curiosity though. That would be unbecoming of a man of his stature.

Some of the children gasped loudly as they got a closer look at the newcomer. The right side of his cheek had a crisscrossed scar, and a second scar ran from his hairline down across his face and through his lips. It was grotesque, and it was reasonable that these children were terrified.

"Class," a brown-haired man with a scar across his nose said as he stood at the front of the room. "This is Morino Ibiki-san. He's here to talk to you about being a shinobi. As I've said earlier, Hokage-sama made a new rule about academy training. Written tests will mostly be dropped."

A cacophony of noise sprung up at the proclamation, despite this not being the first time it was said.

"No more tests and quizzes!" one boy shouted, his scarf flopping around everywhere as he shook himself with joy. It seems that they forgot all about the man's terrifying scars.

Iruka sighed.

The two senior shinobi shared a glance, and Ibiki muttered, "How can you possibly stand this? All this screaming...I bet a prisoner would crack after a day of this. I should probably look into a jutsu that would recreate the effects of this class..." he trailed off.

Iruka replied, "They may make me mad sometimes, but I enjoy seeing the light in their eyes when they figure out a problem, or learn a new technique, or even when they make a new friend. It's all what being a teacher means to me. The smiles on their faces."

"Those smiles won't be there long," Ibiki retorted.

"Yes I know." Iruka paused. "I disagree with Hokage-sama's new rule though. No child should ever be forced to grow up quick," he said wistfully.

"It's too late for that. I'm here, and I'm here to teach them about what's it like being a real shinobi."

Iruka sighed again. Taking in a deep breath, he paused before shouting at the top of his lungs, "QUIET!"

The cacophony of shouting, screaming, crying (tears of joy, not sadness), and all other noises stopped, and the children settled down in their seats.

"As I said before," Iruka stated, "This is Ibiki-san, and he will take over for today's class."

Iruka motioned Ibiki forward, and he stepped forward as requested.

Ibiki stood at the front silently, looking into each student's eyes.

"Being a shinobi," he started quietly, "is not about using flashy jutsus to beat the bad guys up and saving the people by beating the evil dictator. No, being a shinobi is about being quiet and doing as your told. It's about stealth. We do not barge into things thinking about how we're going to save the day with super jutsus. That would get us killed. As shinobi, you must be prepared to kill your enemy, or your enemy will kill you. You must be prepared to suffer, or your teammates and village will suffer...

"I once was on a mission. My team and I were to gather information on another village, and sad to say, we were caught. My teammates were killed immediately, and I was captured and tortured for counterintelligence."

Ibiki removed his bandanna and his hitae-ate, showing off his bald skull to the class. The students gasped even louder, and some even looked sick. His head was _covered _in scars! It made the scars on his face look like nothing compared to the mess on his head.

"This is the result. I was tortured for a week, before I managed to escape. And even then, it was mostly luck. After I managed to escape my cell, I had to fight my way out of the building I was held in, and escape the village. I killed more than thirty different men and women, just to try to make my way back here. And all I had with my was the clothes on my back and a kunai I stole from one of the guards. I didn't even have enough chakra to use any jutsus that could've helped me," he told the astonished and terrified class, before replacing his headdress. "This is what being a true shinobi means. To kill, to torture, to become _death_...Being a shinobi is not about flashy jutsus. No, no indeed.

"Tomorrow I'll be back with a prisoner that refuses to talk. You will use him as a training dummy. Expect lots and lots of blood and screaming. If you don't think you can handle it, then...get the hell out of here!" Ibiki ended his statement with a shout.

A few students immediately bolted for the door. The boy with the scarf, who had shouted about the lack of tests and quizzes, looked sick, but he managed to control himself before shouting, "I am the great Konohamaru, and I won't disappoint my uncle and my grandfather by dropping out of the shinobi program. I'll stay in and I'll be the best ninja there ever was!" His eyes glinted with determination, and he struck a heroic pose.

Ibiki sighed comically. "Did he forget what I just said?" he asked aloud, not really expecting an answer.

-

"I wish to join you," Hanabi said.

Naruto blinked once, twice, three times. "What?"

"I wish to join you," she repeated, with a tinge of annoyance in her tone.

"Join me? Join me to do what?"

"Don't play the fool Naruto. I heard what you said to that Kumo girl. And I want to go with you," she stated, her eyes narrowing at his denial.

"Why, Hanabi?" Naruto asked, truly puzzled.

"My life has gone straight to hell. No, it was, as my cousin Neji would say, Fate for me to become a slave to the Hyuuga family. But I believe that Fate can be changed. I will leave Konoha with you and train myself until I'm undefeatable. I'll become strong so that one day I can come back to Konoha and prove to my clan that trying to put the Caged Bird Seal on me was a mistake, one that they will live to regret.

"No. If you want to join me, I will want you to become part of my group. I have plans for the future, and if you join, you will play a big part of it. We won't be coming back to Konoha if we leave."

Hanabi, having already decided to leave with Naruto, nodded and sighed. "Fine. I will swear my loyalty to you...Naruto-sama."

"There is no need for that, Hanabi. You are...one of my few friends. You will become part of my inner circle, and together, we will become strong enough to do whatever we want!" he said loudly. But then, he added, "But first, I need to find the rest of my inner circle."

"Does that means you already know who's going to be a part of it?"

"I know...a few. I already know five people I want to join out of the possible eight that will become my most trusted generals."

"Do I know any of them?"

"Hana-sensei, of course."

-

"...and then, I was like, 'No way!', and she was like, 'Yes way!"

"Really? Oh my gaaawd, that's impossible!"

"It's not! It really happened!"

'_I cannot wait until I leave these two idiots and join up with Naruto-sama,_' Madoka thought to herself. Her two teammates could _not _keep their mouths shut for more than a minute. They were like machines, they way they could speak so fast and not have to breath. Despite having lost so badly, the two girls were up a few days later gossiping about boys and clothes and other things that they normally did.

And Madoka couldn't take it. She withstood it before, because she knew that the Raikage (who she know longer referred to as -sama due to her loyalty to Naruto), would never let her get new teammates. But now that she was planning on leaving the village and the two girls behind, she started to yearn for that day more and more.

'_Just a few more weeks. Just a few more weeks. Just a few more weeks,_' she chanted to herself, as she tried her best to block out the annoying voices of the two girls beside her.

-

The sun shone through the gaps of the curtains, casting its light onto the slumbering Naruto. With a yawn, he woke up dazedly. Climbing out of his warm bed, he proceeded to the bathroom, where he quickly brushed his teeth, washed his face, and took a piss. He returned to his bedroom and pulled out his clothes for today out of his closet.

He went to the kitchen and made a quick breakfast, not really in the mood for ramen. Within ten minutes, he was out of the door, dishes in the sink, and heading towards the closest forest to train again.

After having made it deep enough into the forest, he made a few hand signs and muttered, "Fuuton: Kaze no Yaiba."

An invisible blade of wind formed around his hand. Pumping more chakra into it, the originally foot long blade extended to become a three feet long blade. He swung his hand out, and the surrounding trees fell down, their trunks having been neatly sliced in two. Naruto sat down in the newly christened clearing and unsealed the book of seals that the Kyuubi had given him during the Wave mission. He had only studied the gravity seals, since they were what he needed at the time, but now that he had a whole month to do so, he decided that now would be a good time to flip through his book.

The first page was basically an introduction to the world of fuinjutsu, and pages upon pages of meticulous notes and diagrams of various seals followed that introduction. He came upon a seal that he used frequently but did not know how to make himself: the storage seal. It would be something very useful to know, despite the fact that his gloves already had two even better storage seals.

The next several hours were spent reading over the notes on it, all of which was written in a precise, neat handwriting.

Surely drawing a few silly circles on the ground and slapping your hands together shouldn't take _that _long, right?

Wrong. Each line, each scribble, each part of the seal had a specific meaning. Even one mistake could cause the seal's effects to drastically change. If your lines were a tenth of an inch too long, or your line was not perfectly straight, or even if you lifted the point of the writing instrument off the seal, any of these small mistakes may alter it! Such was the basics of fuinjutsu.

As a result, Naruto had to study the seal again and again, measure out each piece of the seal, and draw it to perfection. Only years of perfection would allow him to be able to draw the seals at a quicker rate. Good thing he had the Kage Bunshins, eh?

-

The sun was already starting to set when Naruto's concentration broke. His distraction came from a rumble from his stomach.

Looking up, he noted that it was getting dark, and since he had started sometime in the morning, it meant that he had missed lunch.

Stretching out the kinks in his body, he stood up slowly and gathered his materials. Everything was sealed away into the storage seal on his right gauntlet. He then ambled carelessly out of the forest back to Konoha.

He was walking along a shopping street when he heard his name being shouted.

"Naruto! Naruto!"

He turned around and saw Kurenai rushing up to him.

"Hey Naruto!"

"Hello Kurenai-san. You wanted something from me?"

"Oh c'mon, Naruto. We've been friends for a while now. There's no need to keep addressing me so formally. And I just wanted to hang out with you for a bit. We haven't seen much of either recently."

"Alright...Kurenai-s-" A look from Kurenai made him amend his statement quickly. "Alright Kurenai. I'm on my way to dinner right now. Would you like to join me?"

"Are you asking me for a date?" Kurenai asked with a giggle.

"A date?! With my Kurenai-chan?!"

Naruto and Kurenai both groaned at the same time. There went their chances of a peaceful and somewhat quiet dinner.

Anko bounded up with her normal crazy enthusiasm and pounced on both Kurenai and Naruto, wrapping an arm around each's shoulders. "What's this about a date with my Kurenai-chan?" she asked nicely (read: demanded with a kunai at Naruto's throat).

"We're just going to dinner...as friends," Kurenai added hastily.

"Well then, if you're just going _as friends_, then you won't mind if I tag along, do you?" Anko asked with a grin.

Kurenai sighed. "Fine, Anko. But no threatening to castrate other men while we're eating, ok?"

Anko nodded happily.

-

Five minutes later, the dango shop was assaulted by a single individual, her two accomplices following behind her.

"More! More! Dango! Sake! More!" Anko roared loudly.

Naruto and Kurenai, Kurenai especially, both slapped their faces at the sight of Anko's drunk antics. Anko was waving her hands around wildly at the waiter, screaming at him and terrifying him beyond belief.

Kurenai grabbed her friend by the back of her clothes (which wasn't much), and pulled her back. "Calm _down_!" she bit out forcefully.

"But those turds aren't serving me my sake and dango fast enough!" she protested loudly to Kurenai. "I'm going to castrate you asswipes!" she yelled, attention back on the quivering servers.

Naruto, silent up until now, decided to speak up. "Kurenai? I think now would be a good idea to take Anko home."

"Good idea, Naruto."

"Nuh uh! I'm not done with my sake!" Anko's protests were totally ignored.

After the trio left, the owner of the shop assessed the damage. "Two damaged tables, a totally smashed chair, an assortment of broken cups and dishes, a waiter who's going to wake up with nightmares of snakes, and a damaged wall. Oh, I knew building a dango shop in a shinobi village was a bad idea!" the proprietor moaned.

-

The next morning, Naruto woke up to find himself a in a foreign apartment. Normally, he would've been tense at waking up in a place he did not know, but he could sense both Kurenai and Anko close by. Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, Naruto then ended up on the floor. The sudden movement, coupled with his slight lapse of memory, led him to his meeting with the floor.

He groaned. "Ughhh."

Another groan alerted him to the exact location of Kurenai, who happened to be half slumped over the couch, her magnificent rear pointing right at Naruto. Naruto's eyes bulged, and he had to slap his hand over his nose to stop the immense amount of blood that was threatening to spill. His eyes averted to the side, and this time, blood _did _erupt from his nose. His eyes had happened to land on Anko, who was wearing nothing but her fishnet. Yes, nothing...but...her...fishnet.

The spurting blood propelled Naruto into the nearby wall, where he slammed into it with great force. The sudden shaking of the dingy apartment caused both women to groan again.

He slowly got up after recovering the sudden blood loss.

'_So who's place is this?_' he wondered to himself.

Taking a quick look around, the clothes strewn everywhere, the dango sticks lying haphazardly all over the place, and the stack of Icha Icha books in the corner told him it was Anko's apartment.

After having glanced through the room, he quickly left Anko's place, for fear of her waking up and treating him to a dose of her radiant morning personality.

Once at home, Naruto quickly stripped his clothes off and went into the shower. After some rigorous scrubbing, some soapy lathering, and a refreshing rinsing, he stepped out in his towel on the tiled floor of the bathroom.

'_I need to find more people to recruit to my cause. But where? I already know who I want to convince to join out of all the people in Konoha, and I already have sleepers in Kiri and Iwa. Suna is no threat to me at the moment, although a sleeper there might become useful sometime later...Perhaps if I manage to convince Gaara to join me, I can keep him in Suna?_' Naruto pondered. '_Anyways, back on track. That leaves just Konoha and Kumo as places where I don't have anyone under my command. Unless, I leave someone here behind...I'll think about that later. For Kumo, I could've left Madoka there, but she would be married off before I would be able to call on her. Hmm, what a dilemma. And then there's the matter of how I'm going to leave to recruit them in the first place. I don't want to leave Konoha permanently with only a handful of followers. I suppose it's time to take a training trip then._'

-

Sarutobi puffed on his pipe as he sat at his impressive mahogany desk in the Hokage Tower, where he was trying to reduce the paperwork...by actually doing it.

A knock on the door interrupted his work, and he happily got answered it. "Come in!" he shouted out.

A head peeked in. It was his secretary. "There's an Uzumaki Naruto here to see you, Hokage-sama," she called to him.

"Send him in!"

The secretary's head popped back out, and Naruto soon walked in. The door closed shut behind him.

"So, what can I do for you, Naruto-kun?" the man asked.

"I'd like to take a training trip, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi sighed and brought his hand up to his chin, rubbing it as he thought. A frown graced his aged visage. "Are you sure that is a wise idea?"

"Yes, I am sure, Hokage-sama."

"You understand the dangers right? With you being Minato's son and all...Not only that, but I need you to help with preparations for the upcoming war..." the elderly leader of Konoha trailed off. "With your successful mission, we have less enemies to worry about, but the number is still pretty impressive."

"The only way I can prepare for the invasion would be to train myself," he replied. "And there are only a few people who know that my father was the Yondaime. Iwa's not going to hunt me down or anything. In fact, I won't even be going near Iwa, alright?"

The man sighed again. "Fine," he allowed reluctantly. Taking out a scrap of paper, he hurriedly scribbled out a pass that he was to show to the guards at the gate. "Give this to whoever's on guard duty," he said as he handed the slip to Naruto. "I expect you back here at least two days before the start of the third exam, Naruto."

"Thank you Hokage-sama."

'_Mission, success,_' Naruto thought to himself as he walked out.

-

The large wooden gates of Konoha loomed over Naruto. Two chuunin guards stopped him to check his pass, and after seeing what was written on it, one of the two raised an eyebrow and asked, "You're going on a training trip, and you don't have any supplies?"

"They're sealed into storage seals," Naruto replied curtly and without emotion to their queries.

"Right," the other man drawled. "Whatever you say genin," he sneered. The man shoved the pass back to Naruto, who took it and walked past the gates, never looking behind him.

-

Three days into his travels, Naruto was walking along the borders of Kusa no Kuni (Grass Country) and Tsuchi no Kuni (Earth Country) at a sedate pace. He was taking it slowly to enjoy the scenery, not rushed by the fact that he only had a total of twenty-five days to do what he wanted. As he strode along the dirt path leading into Tsuchi no Kuni, he was joined by an elderly man with a long, flowing, white beard that reached to the man's chest.

The odd duo walked on in silence for an hour before Naruto finally acknowledged the old man.

"Can I ask why you're following me?"

"I ain't following you, boy! I have the right to walk on this road just as much as you do!" the elderly man heatedly replied.

"Forgive me for my assumptions," Naruto apologized curtly before continuing on towards his destination: Iwa. He was on his way to meet up with Yuki and her clan in Iwa, although her clan was not aware of his existence yet. Yuki had been recalled back to Iwa to prepare for war after she had reported to her superiors that Oto had betrayed them, as Naruto had instructed her to do. She did so with great talent, and the higher-ups in Iwa believed it without a doubt. Now, their preparations for war were against both Konoha _and _Oto.

The two continued for another hour before the old man decided to speak up. "So, boy, where you heading?"

"Iwa," came the short and prompt answer.

"I hear you call yourself a god of fire," the man commented casually.

Naruto tensed. "And where did you hear that from?" he asked.

"Oh, I got my sources," the man said slyly. "Would you like to meet a _true _god of fire?"

Naruto looked skeptically at the old man.

The old man placed his hand around Naruto's forearm, and suddenly, Naruto felt like he was burning. He looked down and saw that the old man's hand was on fire!

Naruto pulled away with a look of surprise on his face.

"You're the God of fire?"

"Yes, but mortals have given me the name Kagutsuchi."

"So why are you here?" Naruto questioned.

"Hmm...I was once worshiped by many. Revered by humans everywhere. They respected me, they prayed to me...But ever since recently, mortals have stopped worshiping me. I have given them light, warmth, a means of cooking, and the heat for forging weapons and tools, yet they dare to disrespect and forget my name. Had we gods not ruled that we could not directly affect the mortal world, I would have razed cities, towns, and villages for this disrespect. Alas, the rule was made, and I was not allowed to do anything _directly_. However, I caught sight of you, one who is the furthest in controlling that which is mine in this plane of mortals, and I thought I could convince you to help me get my revenge," the god ended his tirade bitterly.

"And what do I get out of helping you?"

"Hah! You dare to ask me so boldly what you would deserve as reward, as if helping a god was not reward enough? But alas, I will show you techniques that you could only dream about, techniques so powerful that they could raze cities in a whole country! But you should know, techniques such as those for mortals come with a great price."

"Then how will you teach it to me?"

"I will you bring you to the In Between, a semi-world where both mortals and immortals may meet. Time there is irrelevant, as is any prices you would normally have to pay to perform my techniques."

**You should accept, you mortal. This is a once-in-several-million-lifetimes chance for you**, came the rumbling voice of the great Kyuubi from inside Naruto's head.

"Alright, I'll teach people to fear your name, and in return you'll teach me your techniques."

"Not all of them, of course," Kagutsuchi noted.

"Very well. Teach me then."

Kagutsuchi placed a hand on Naruto's body and the two disappeared from the mortal plane.

-

Author's Notes: Eh, my angst moments are becoming rather high, dontcha think? Dont worry, its necessary. They wont be angsty forever, like canon-sasuke. Illusions of grandeur are aplenty in this chapter. Tell me what you think. Did I make Naruto's dreams too unrealistic, did I make Hanabi too angsty, whatever.

I just had to finish this chapter quickly, since I won't be able to do any typing for the next week. Going to Seattle!


	7. Chapter 7: Rendezvous in Iwa

_Last time:_

"Very well. Teach me then."

Kagutsuchi placed a hand on Naruto's body and the two disappeared from the mortal plane.

-

Chapter 7: Rendezvous in Iwa

It hadn't been more than a second before Kagutsuchi and Naruto reappeared.

"I shall be watching over you," Kagutsuchi informed Naruto before disappearing back to wherever he came from.

Looking down on himself, Naruto noticed that he was still the same. Nothing new about him whatsoever, yet he knew he spent more than a month training under Kagutsuchi's tutelage.

Pulling out a bingo book that he stole from the Hokage's office, Naruto flipped open the page to look for a weak missing-nin that he could test his new techniques on. Well, techniques that didn't require sacrificing his soul or something stupid like that. A smaller but still destructive technique would do nicely.

Spotting a B ranked missing nin from Konoha, Naruto picked him to test his new techniques on.

'_Rokusho Aoi...why does that name sound familiar?_'

Turning around, he started to run to Ame, where Aoi was rumored to have joined. Thankfully, Ame shared borders with Kusa, so it was only a few hours of shinobi-style running before he reached the western border of Kusa.

Just as he took a few leaps into Ame, a border patrol appeared in front of him.

Without a word, the group of three chuunins swarmed him.

As he blocked each attack with his now-unsealed Kuroryujin, he thought to himself, '_These guys are professionals. No mindless blabbing, careful and precise strikes, good teamwork..._'

Despite these complimentary traits, they were still no match to a prodigy who was trained under the God of fire.

Keeping the katana in one hand, his other hand made a few quick seals, before he shouted, "Katon: Kaensho Haki (Fire Release: Flame Thrower)!"

He put his empty hand to his mouth and blew through it, releasing a short stream of flames. The technique was a smaller version of the Katon: Goukakyuu, yet it was so much more powerful due to its condensed size.

Two of the three chuunin managed to leap away before they could be hit, but the third was too close to Naruto to move away in time. His screams lasted for only a few minutes before dying down.

Still, the Ame chuunin did not say a word. Not even a "You killed my teammate you bastard!"

Definitely professionals.

Ignoring the smoking husk of their teammate, the two remaining Ame chuunin leapt in again, focusing on striking Naruto at places where it was humanly impossible to block at the same time. The only option was to dodge, and dodge Naruto did.

A swipe to his neck and a thrust at his right shin, for example, was impossible to block with a weapon, so Naruto could do nothing but back away as quick as he could. The two chuunin expertly followed Naruto. However, this time one of the two chuunin fell back and flipped through a few handsigns

"Suiton: Mizu no Muchi (Water Release: Whip of Water)!" A thick whip formed in the chuunin's hand, and he lashed out at Naruto while his teammate threw a barrage of shuriken at the genin.

The whip managed to coil around Naruto for a second before it evaporated with a hiss.

The chuunin looked questioningly at Naruto, who replied, "Katon: Kazangan Kotetsu (Fire Release: Lava Armor). It works wonder against techniques like yours," Naruto informed the two.

Still, the three shinobi continued to fight, until Naruto decided that he was done testing various destructive techniques.

His hands moved through several hand signs, before he shouted, "Katon: Hidama no Hitoame (Fire Release: Shower of Fireballs)."

Up in the sky, dozens of fireballs the size of a dog appeared. The two chuunin looked up, and they had only moments before the fireballs rained down upon them.

In the end, the surrounding area was littered with holes, scorch marks, and burnt trees. Looking at his handiwork, Naruto smiled in satisfaction. His techniques were unstoppable!

-

After having totally trashed the border patrol, Naruto made sure that his tracks were covered, so that any other Ame nins would not think that a Konoha nin was the one to devastate their chuunin patrol. Also, as a result of having tested some of his new moves, he no longer felt like hunting Rokusho.

Turning around, the blond genin quickly headed back towards Iwa, which was his destination before he was interrupted.

Rokusho Aoi would never know that he was spared a most horrific death that day.

-

Naruto was back on the path to Iwa, strolling along as if he had all the time in the world. Boredom suddenly struck him, so he thought to himself, '_What to do?_'

**How about you read the book on seals I gave you. There are some things in there you still have not gotten up to that will greatly benefit you in the times to come**, the low voice of the Kyuubi rumbled.

Naruto shrugged and did as told. With a poof, the book appeared in his hand.

Opening the book, he spent a few minutes thumbing through it until one particular seal caught his eye.

"The Memory Suppression Seal. Interesting..."

_The Memory Suppression Seal was designed to help the gathering of information from spies. It suppresses the victims' memories of the user and any affiliation they have with him. The seal can be broken years later, giving the victim his memories back. The user will have given the victim orders before applying the seal that tell them to meet the user at a certain place and time, where they then relay all the information they have gathered over the years. If the user wants to send the spy back to continue spying, the seal must then be replaced. It also acts as a tracking mechanism and is completely undetectable, short of dissecting the person's brain and finding the physical evidence, so that the master has total confidence of his spy's well-being._

"This will be very helpful," Naruto mused to himself. "_Very _helpful."

-

The gates of Iwa were a magnificent sight. It was fifteen feet tall, made of a black metal that seemed to shine so brightly. Naruto's eyes widened at the sheer size of the monstrous gates.

He quickly placed a seal on him that acted like a permanent Henge, turning him into a twenty year old man with unassuming brown eyes and plain brown eyes.

Two chuunin hailed him as he approached.

"Halt! Name yourself and your purpose!"

"My name is Morisa Yahiko, and I'm just here to sightsee!" Naruto called back. The name he gave the Iwa chuunins was the first thing he could come up with.

"And your bags then? I'm sure a traveler like yourself would have baggage to carry around," one of the chuunin commented sardonically.

"I have it sealed away in my gloves," Naruto called back. He normally wouldn't have given a secret like that, but what other way could he explain why he suddenly showed up with nothing but his clothes in front of a major shinobi village?

"Seals?" the other chuunin asked, curiosity peaked. He turned his head to his partner and nodded his head, and the first chuunin took off, apparently to report to the Tsuchikage.

"Please wait for a moment," the second chuunin told Naruto.

A few minutes later, a large bearded man approached the gates, followed by the chuunin that had left.

"A seal expert, eh?" The big man stated. It was obvious from his clothes that he was the Tsuchikage. Afterall, not ever shinobi wore a large bamboo hat with the symbol for Iwa on it.

Naruto, surprised at the Tsuchikage's appearance, shook his head no. "Seals expert? I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about it, sir," Naruto replied respectfully.

"Hm? Then how'd you get those seals on your gloves?"

"I paid an expert to do it for me."

"Right," the Tsuchikage drawled. "Well, then, pardon me for hindering your entrance into our magnificent village."

The gates opened, and Naruto, under the guise of Yahiko, was welcomed in.

-

"Watch him. I don't trust him. If he makes any suspicious moves, eliminate him."

"Hai, Tsuchikage-sama!"

-

'_Well, that was a pretty stupid move,_' Naruto thought to himself as he walked through the streets of Iwa. The buildings, rather than having been made of the same material the gates were made of, were built using stone. There was a good chance that many were built using Doton techniques. This would be a good place to boost his Doton arsenal.

'_It's obvious that the Tsuchikage is going to send ANBU to track me...Now I need a good reason for visiting the Hattori's._'

Naruto wandered around the village for some time before he found what looked to be an academy, if the sight of children throwing kunai at five feet tall rocks was any clue.

Approaching the instructor, he asked, "Excuse me sir! Hi, my name is Morisa Yahiko! I'm a tourist to Iwa, and I wanted to visit the Hattori clan while I was here. I've heard much of their samurai skills, and seeing how my ancestors were samurai too, well...You can't blame me for being a bit curious."

The instructor, a gruff man with scars over his face, pointed a finger to a large building in the distance. "It's that building there," the man said.

"Thanks a lot!" Naruto thanked the man with a smile on his face.

If anyone who truly knew Naruto saw him at that moment, they'd compliment him as the ultimate actor.

A single ANBU departed to report to his superior about what he had learned from the tourist's words while the rest of the squad stayed hidden, even to Naruto's senses.

-

It took quite some time traveling the civilian way, but Naruto eventually made it to the Hattori compound. Despite being a disgraced samurai family with little money, they still had a large area that they could claim as their own.

Naruto knocked on the gates surrounding the Hattori compound, hoping that someone would hear him and answer his call.

A woman in her mid-twenties approached Naruto from the other side and asked, "How can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm Morisa Yahiko! My ancestors used to be samurai, and once I got myself interested in their history, I decided that I wanted to visit any remaining samurai clans. Yours was the most prominent samurai clan mentioned that still survived, so I came here hoping for an audience," the blond explained.

"Of course," the woman said after a pause. "Please, come in."

Despite being ANBU, the elite shinobi tracking him could not enter the clan without express permission, so they could do nothing but watch Naruto as he entered the area.

The woman lead Naruto into the main building, which didn't look too well taken care of. She continued through several passageways before leading him to a room. Sliding the doors back, she bid him to enter the room, and followed him in, closing it as she entered.

She kneeled down on a cushion in the center of the room, and waved her hand at a cushion that sat in front of her. "Please, sit. Tell me what you are here for. Your story shows many holes and could not fool one as skilled as I am in deception," she said pompously.

Naruto responded by unsealing the katana that Hanzo had given to him.

The woman took one look at the weapon and immediately gasped. "The Kuroryujin," she murmured softly. "How do you have it?"

"I defeated the previous owner in battle and he gave it to me, telling me to bring it here to receive your loyalty."

The woman looked up at him in surprise.

"Yes, I will need help within a few years," he answered her unasked question. "I plan on leaving my village to start my own, and so I've been recruiting people that would join me."

"Of course...Yahiko-sama. Anything would be better than staying in this place," she said disgustedly. "We, as in the Hattori clan, were once the strongest samurai clan. Nowadays, we are ridiculed as a pathetic clan that is now as useful as a three legged hunting dog. If my ancestors were alive right now, they'd kill themselves just as quickly to escape from this dishonor!"

Naruto, listening to her impassioned speech, nodded his head.

"How will we know when to come to you?" the woman asked.

"In four or so years, I will fire a flare into the sky several miles away from Iwa. That will be your signal. When the Iwa shinobi go to investigate, I want you and your clan to sneak out and meet me here," he told her, before giving her a map with a circled area.

"Allow me to call in the rest of the family, so that I may inform them of your intentions," the current head of the family suggested, before she got up and went to a bell on the side. Grabbing the rope in her hands she pulled down twice, making a loud ringing noise that sounded through the compound. She then went back to her place before "Yahiko".

A few minutes later, a group of twenty or thirty people gathered in the room.

"Chikara-sama?"

'_Ah, so that's her name,_' Naruto thought to himself.

The woman, Chikara, turned to face her family and held the Kuroryujin in her hands. Low murmurs immediately broke out within the group.

"This man, Morisa Yahiko, has brought back our clan sword. By clan laws, we are to swear loyalty to this man, and he is here to receive our oaths now."

All but one man swore their oaths. When they were done, the young man yelled out, "I refuse to believe that some nobody killed Hanzo-sama and managed to take the sword from him! He must've stolen it or something!"

"Quiet fool! Watch your mouth!" a girl beside him hissed. She was a young girl that looked to be around ten or so. She had long brown hair, apparently tied up in a ponytail. She was currently glaring at the man who shouted out.

"But Mika, don't tell me you would believe that his loser could kill someone as great as Hanzo-sama!" the young man protested.

'_Mika? As in Hanzo's little "Mika-chan"?_'

The girl's response was cut off by Chikara, who chose to answer to the outburst with a glare. "You will do as I say, nay, as Yahiko-sama says. Or else you will be _punished_," Chikara hissed, stressing the word "punished".

The young man bowed his head and swore his oath before he muttered, "Yes Chikara-sama. Forgive my outburst, Yahiko-sama."

Naruto accepted the apology without a word. Looking down at himself, he then decided to do something drastic. Quickly erasing the seal, his permanent Henge was then dispelled revealing his true self.

"As you should know, that was not the real me. This is. And you should also know, Yahiko is not my real name. My name is Uzumaki Naruto, current genin of Konoha."

"Genin?" Chikara asked, surprised.

"Yes."

"Ah, Naruto-sama! There is one more of us, but she is not here right now..."

"You mean Yuki? I have already spoken to her, so you need not worry," Naruto said dismissively.

Mika, the young girl from earlier, perked up at the mention of Yuki.

"Yuki-neechan? You spoke to her? Do you know how she's doing? Is she doing well in the chuunin exams in Konoha?" she fired off rapidly, before blushing when she realized what she just did.

"Yes I spoke to her, she's doing fine, and unfortunately, she was eliminated from the exams during the second round, as her two teammates were killed."

"You mean those two pricks Ieyasu and Kenichi?" Mika snorted.

"Mika!" Chikara snapped at the younger girl.

"Yes," Naruto responded with a small smile.

"Do you know who killed them?" the girl asked eagerly. She seemed to have a vendetta against the two.

"I did," Naruto informed her.

"Does that mean you're in the exams too?"

"Yup. Unfortunately, Yuki was technically an enemy of mine, so I had to eliminate her team from the exams."

"Eh, that's ok. As long as those two bastards suffer!"

Ignoring her continuing rant against the two deceased Iwa genin, Naruto turned to Chikara and told her, "I need to place a seal on all of you. It will erase all memories of me, and instead supply fake memories. That way, you can never incriminate yourself in planning on betraying Iwa. However, the seal is complicated. It will take some time to create enough seals for this many people."

"Of course," they chorused together. They were loyal, and they would do anything to prove their loyalty. It did not matter who the master would be. As long as the master had the Kuroryujin, then they would be sworn in as master.

Some time later, Naruto had finally finished creating enough seals for the clan, and some more for later. Applying them was pretty easy, as the seal itself disappeared the moment it touched the servant's body. It was still there, of course, but it was just undetectable. The only drawback that Naruto had found to this seal was that the target had to be _willing_ to become your servant. Otherwise, it would do nothing but irritate whoever you slapped the seal on.

"I must leave now. I am on a busy schedule." Taking the Kuroryujin back, he stepped out of the room, listening to the scrambles of the clan, as they prepared themselves for their duty to their new master in a few years.

-

Stepping out the compound, two ANBU immediately appeared in front of Naruto.

"The Tsuchikage would like to see you," one said monotonously.

"Of course, ANBU-san!"

Outwardly he was all smiles and laughs, but inside, he was in a panic. He was good, a lot better than any genins (better than many chuunins and some jounins too). He knew that. However, if the Tsuchikage was calling him into his office for a trap, there was no way he could defeat the elder man and whatever ANBU he may have hiding around the area. The question now was, should he try to escape, or should he play along in case it wasn't a trap?

His internal debate was halted when he realized that they were nearing a set of heavy stone doors. The doors creaked open slowly, and the ANBU leading Naruto walked forward, after looking back at the disguised genin with a glance that told him to follow.

Naruto warily stepped forward, with the second ANBU walking behind him.

The first thing he noticed was the staircase made of stone leading downwards. The next thing he noticed was that it was very dim in there. A line of lights were strung up along each side of the wall, but the lights were so weak it wasn't enough to illuminate the entire way down.

After quite some steps down, Naruto was eventually led into a maze of rooms, before stopping at a massive stone wall. In front of the wall, a lady sat at her desk, with piles of paper looming over her head, while two chuunin stood behind her.

"We're here to bring the visitor to Tsuchikage-sama," the ANBU in front announced.

With a nod of their head, one of the chuunin turned his back to Naruto and did what Naruto guessed were several hand seals, before slapping his hand to the wall. The wall opened to reveal a spacious room fit for a Kage. As if to prove this fact, the man from earlier, the Tsuchikage, sat at a desk in the center of the room.

"Yahiko-san, was it?" the man asked. "My name is Yamashiro Sano."

"Nice to meet you, Tsuchikage-sama."

"Oho, please, call me Sano," the Tsuchikage rumbled out. "Now, I called you here because I have a single question for you." Leaning forward with his hands placed firmly on the desk in front of him, he continued, "Who is the seal expert you hired?"

"Huh? You called me here just for that? I thought it was something much more serious, Sano-sama. However, it is unfortunate that you must ask this question, because I do not have an answer for this. All i know is that he goes by the name of Seal." It was a blatant lie on his part, but he could not think of something more useful.

"Seal," Sano repeated. "Right. Well, I'll have my men look into that name then. Can you tell me anything else about him? Like what he looks like, where he's from, anything?"

"Well, he's tall, he has brown hair, and I know he's from...Taki."

"Thank you very much for the information."

It was a good thing that Sano was a man that used his muscles more than he used his mind.

As Naruto got up to leave with a relieved sigh, he heard the telltale sign of a weapon being unsheathed.

Kyuubi spoke up then with a growl. **Watch out!**

An ANBU had taken out a wakizashi and attempted to stab him in the back, but he had spun around quickly, narrowly avoiding being impaled.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, feigning a confused expression. It wouldn't hurt to try to milk some information out of this while he tried to stall for time.

"Iwa is in a bad time right now," Sano started sadly. "While the other nations have their own seal masters, our country's people just has never shown a great tendency to the art of fuinjutsu. If the other nations learn about this great weakness of ours, they could capitalize on this, since seals are used quite frequently in the defense of each nation. And since you have learned that we are desperately looking for an accomplished seal master, we cannot let you leave. Thanks for the information though," the man say with smirk. He snapped his fingers, and two more ANBU appeared in the room. All three had their weapons unsheathed, while Sano stood behind them at his desk with a smug grin on his face and his hands clasped behind his back.

Things were _not _looking good for Naruto.

-

'_Blow my cover and try to fight my way out, which has a small chance of succeeding, or run like a civilian, which has no chance of succeeding?_' Naruto thought as he stared down the three threatening wakzashis.

He stumbled backwards and used his hand to blindly search for the way out. Unfortunately, it was at that moment that he remembered that the chuunin standing in front of the room had used a Doton jutsu to move the door. It was supposed to be a top secret jutsu guarded carefully by Iwa so that intruders could not enter the room without blowing up the entire thing, which would basically get rid of any attempts of stealth.

The door suddenly creaked open and the secretary peeked her head in. "Sir? There's a- AH!"

Naruto, seeing his chance to escape, pushed past her and barreled out.

Thankfully, he had taken the liberty to memorize the way to the office, since he already expected this to be a trap of some sort. It _was _a trap, but not the kind he had in mind. He had expected to be killed for being a spy, not because he supposedly knew about Iwa's big weakness.

Left, left, right, left, right, right...

His feet pounded against the stone floors of the underground maze as he made several turns that seemed to be randomly picked.

Yes! He could see the stairs!

This was a good thing as at the top of the stairs was the exit. He ran up the many stairs before slamming his shoulder into the stone. It pushed it open, thankfully, but it injured his shoulder too.

Clutching his bruised shoulder, he emerged into the sunlight, only to be surrounded by the three ANBU from the Tsuchikage's office.

"How'd you guys get out here so quickly?" Naruto asked, bewildered. He normally wouldn't care, but he still had to keep up his "Yahiko" farce, and a civilian probably _would _care.

"It's a secret!" Sano's voice sang out from behind. The larger man emerged from the door behind Naruto, effectively trapping him. "You're quite fast for a civilian, you know?"

Thankful that he was still thought to be a civilian, he responded with a shaky laugh, "Well, when there are three ANBU chasing you, you tend to run a little faster."

"Well now, I'm afraid that your time is up," the Tsuchikage returned.

"You're going to kill me in front of all these people?"

"To protect this village, I will do what I must!"

"Even murder an innocent tourist of an imaginary crime?" Naruto said loudly, hoping to attract the attention of some villagers and perhaps cause a commotion.

"You are no innocent tourist! You possess crucial information about this village's defense, and we cannot let that information leave our hands!"

Naruto's hopes were dashed when no villager came to his aid. Perhaps he should use his shinobi skills? Not only would it expose him as being a shinobi, it would also put the Hattori family under suspicion, since he had only visited that single place in his time as a "tourist". Even the seal would not help save their lives.

Seeing no other way to get out of this alive, he sighed. He would have to reveal more things about himself, even if it was a half-lie.

Unsealing the wakizashi that he stole from the (dead) guard at Gato's old mansion, he wielded it like an expert, which he almost was.

"Not only were my ancestors samurai, but so am I!"

He attempted to slash through the three ANBU, but all three jumped away in time.

Taking this time to run, Naruto turned towards the gate and ran like the flames of hell were after his feet.

The ANBU and the Tsuchikage followed his trail. They kept up with him easily, but they let him run to tire him out. It was unfortunate for them that they _still _believed he was a mere above average civilian.

As soon as he got to the gate, he knew he had to use chakra to climb over it. There was no other way to get out!

Taking this chance, he forced chakra to his feet and leapt onto the gates, running up vertically. The chuunin at the gate stared at him in surprise, before all went dark when Naruto slammed the butt of the wakizashi into his temple. The chuunin guard collapsed bonelessly to the ground.

Leaping down to the other side of the gates of Iwa, he continued to run, this time at full speed. By the time the ANBU and Sano were over the wall too, Naruto was already far away.

"Send the hunter nins," Sano commanded, and an ANBU nodded before disappearing. "He _must _be eliminated!"

-

Naruto ran without stopping. He could only stop once he crossed the border between Earth Country and Grass Country, as a simple act like having a hunter nin cross a border could be interpreted as a declaration of war.

The mountainous area soon began to turn to large forests as he got closer and closer to Kusa.

Unfortunately for the Konoha genin, a border patrol happened to be in his way.

'_Shit! Stupid border patrols,_' he thought to himself angrily.

The chuunin were unusually alert, due to the fact that they were informed by radio to be on the lookout for anyone trying to cross the border.

"Spread out. Make sure no one crosses the border. Eliminate anyone who tries to sneak past," the lead chuunin commanded his subordinates.

Unsealing his violin, he cast a quick genjutsu over himself that would hopefully fool the chuunin's senses. It was a weak genjutsu, and any quick movements would dispel it, but it was handy since it was harder to detect than most illusions. By also using the violin, it increased the genjutsu's ability to conceal him from enemies even better, although it was still just as easy to dispel.

Slowly inching his way forward, he kept telling himself to inch a little faster, as the hunter nins could chance upon him at any second now.

A sudden thought struck him. '_I should probably go place the Memory Suppression Seal on the rest of those who have sworn their loyalty to me when I get back to Konoha._' Shaking his head quickly, he then thought, '_That was random..._'

He then reminded himself that he had a seal on! So all he had to do was take the seal off and look like his real self, right?

Wrong!

If he approached a chuunin patrol looking like his real self, they'd start screaming "It's the Yondaime!" or some shit like that, and that would blow his stealth straight to hell. Not to mention, the Sandaime would find out about it too. And _that _was the biggest no-no he could make on this trip. Not only would he never be allowed to leave the village, but the old man would place ANBU to watch him, and that would greatly restrict his ability to scout out potential followers, something he planned to frequently do over the course of four years.

Naruto's contemplations were rudely interrupted by one of the two chuunin left around the area.

"Shit, I gotta take a whiz. Cover me, will ya?"

The second chuunin looked at his partner in disgust. "How unprofessional," he muttered loudly so that both Naruto and his partner could hear.

"Hey man! Nature calls! It ain't my fault!"

The chuunin stomped over to his partner and would've slapped him in the head if that wouldn't have caused the urine to spray everywhere (and possibly on his feet).

Naruto couldn't believe his luck! The two chuunin were standing off to the side, arguing about taking a leak during guard duty, causing their attention on their surroundings to decrease. They, still being (somewhat) experienced chuunin of Iwa, were smart to keep turn their heads back and forth to casually check for intruders. Ah, the the sin of sloth, at its finest.

Now, all he had to do was time it so that he could dash past the two when both of their heads were not looking towards the Kusa border.

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Wait...

There!

Straining his legs to the fastest it could carry him, he dashed across the border, only to hear shouts from behind.

"Holy shit! Intruder! Get him!"

The first chuunin (the one who just finished taking a piss), protested, "But he crossed the border! If we cross too, Kusa will declare war on us!"

"Then we'll just eradicate that backwater country! They don't even have an official Kage, you moron!" the second chuunin (the more professional one) shouted back. "And not only that, but the Tsuchikage gave strict orders not to let anyone cross the border. What do you think he's going to do to us if he finds out we let someone through?"

"Um, then just don't tell him, duh!" the first shouted back.

"He's the _Tsuchikage_! You think you can just lie to his face and get away with it? He may not be some kind of scholar, but he's smart enough to tell the difference between the truth and a lie."

Naruto, who was quickly escaping due to the two's bickering, caught the last part of what they said, only to chuckle ironically. The man had fallen to his lies very easily. Perhaps that just shows how "smart" the people of Iwa in general are?

"Hey, he's getting away!" the first suddenly pointed out.

Turning towards Naruto, the second chuunin immediately started to chase him.

**From what I've noticed, you seem to resemble this Tsuchikage fellow. The both of you tend to use your muscles more than your brains. _Use a Kage Bunshin_, you simple-minded mortal! **the loud voice of the Kyuubi roared.

Momentarily cursing his own stupidity, Naruto then performed the jutsu, forming a single Kage Bunshin.

"Run northeast to Taki, and then easy to Oto. Try to convince them you're Oto. It wouldn't hurt to stack more evidence against them anyway," Naruto commanded the clone.

As soon as the clone pulled away to do as commanded, Naruto jumped down into the bushes and hid there, waiting for the two chuunin to pass by and follow the clone.

"Get him! He's heading that way!" the second chuunin called out to companion as they leapt away from where Naruto had been hiding.

That had been a close call. A _very _close call, indeed.

Sighing in relief, he got up and stretched his limbs before leaping up back into the branches of the trees of Kusa.

-

Four days of light jogging, some sightseeing, and some training later, Naruto was back inside Konoha. The Sandaime, of course, had been notified the moment Naruto stepped through the gates.

The blond had plans for "accidentally" bumping into his followers to meet with them, but then an ANBU had arrived, informing him that the Hokage wanted to see him.

And no one really refused the Hokage. Especially not a genin.

So, heading to the tower, Naruto jumped up the several flights necessary and reached Sarutobi's top-floor window, opening it and leaping in.

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked calmly.

The Professor looked up from his paperwork. "Yes. I wanted to know how things went on your training trip, and why you're here so early. I thought that you weren't going to return until a few days before the exam, yet here you are, with over a week left until it begins."

"I felt that I had trained enough to totally surpass this year's competition, so I decided to cut my training trip short to return here. I was also sure that there were...things that you would've wanted my help on," Naruto responded.

Sarutobi shook his head. "No. Nothing at all. Go return to your home, take the day off, or do whatever."

"Hai."

-

Hanabi, desperate about leaving Konoha with Naruto and proving her worth, trained frequently in the Forest of Death area. The ferocious creatures and aggressive man-eating plants were good for her training, as she could practice many different techniques on them without getting in trouble. The problem though was that since her attacks mainly focused on strikes to human's tenketsu points, it made training that style of fighting difficult, seeing as how her targets had very different anatomies than humans. This lead to her creating new techniques usable only by Hyuuga, many of which were exhausting and chakra draining. Besides new Hyuuga techniques, she also asked the Sandaime to allow her into the jutsu library. The Hokage had graciously allowed her access to the chuunin section of the library, where she learned a few extra ninjutsus that would hopefully be helpful in the future.

Speaking of the Sandaime, the man had approached Hanabi about three weeks ago, informing her of her teammate's desire to leave on a training trip. She was clever enough to understand that his real objective probably wasn't to "train", but to find the other people he wanted in his inner circle. She wasn't sure if he had succeeded or not, though.

'_Stop wandering!'_ Hanabi thought to herself. She was losing her focus. '_I will train myself to be the best Hyuuga to ever live. On my life, I so swear!_'

-

There were two followers in Konoha he knew he wanted to use the Memory Suppression Seal on: Yuki and Shiso. Since Madoka wasn't going to return to Kumo (she'd be married off before he could call her), she did not need the seal. She was going to stay here in Konoha, right under the entire village's noses. Hanabi, Hana, Anko, and Kurenai, all people he either already convinced or planned on convincing to join him did not need the seals either, as they also were not in any danger for knowing him, unlike the Iwa genin and the Kiri genin.

To find the two, Naruto decided to visit all of the hotels in Konoha, which thankfully didn't number too high. A few subtle questions at each hotel under a Henge would more than likely get him his information.

He struck gold at the fourth hotel. The secretary, a woman known to gossip, easily spilled everything she knew when subtly inquired about the Kiri or Iwa entourage.

"Have you seen the foreign shinobi?" Naruto had asked under a Henge. "They're tough-looking, but I bet it's nothing that the Uchiha couldn't handle!"

Just saying these words mentally hurt Naruto.

"Omigosh! Yeah! The Kiri entourage, those people with the squiggly lines on their head band thingies, are staying _here_, at this very hotel!" the clerk responded excitedly. "And I heard that the Kumo and Iwa delegations are staying at a hotel down the street. In the _same _hotel! My friend, who's also a secretary there, told me that there might be some fights in the hotel! Oh it's so exciting!"

Thanking her, Naruto then left the hotel. Now that he knew where the two groups were staying, he could easily meet up with them at another time.

He was heading to his home when he heard his name being shouted.

"Naru-chan!"

"Naruto-kun!"

"Hello, Anko, Kurenai," Naruto responded.

"We heard that you went on a training trip!" Kurenai half stated half asked.

Naruto nodded.

"Well, did you learn anything new?" Anko asked excitedly.

Another nod.

"Show us!" the purple-haired demanded.

"Sorry, I'm busy...doing...something! Yeah, something. Bye, Anko, Kurenai." Naruto then left quickly.

Unfortunately, the self proclaimed dango mistress snaked an arm through Naruto's and pulled him back, bringing his head to her bosom.

"You're not going anywhere until you show us something new!" she shouted.

The civilians nearby turned their head to see what the commotion was about, only to see a boy being smashed into an older woman's breasts. The fact that the "older woman" in question was wearing very little in terms of clothing did not help hide the gushing of blood that many of the older males suffered.

Kurenai took two steps back, ashamed to even admit that she knew them.

Naruto tried to say something, but with his face smashed into Anko's generous chest, it came out as something incomprehensible.

"Anko!" Kurenai finally shouted. "Let him go! Or I won't buy you any dango for the next two weeks!"

Anko jumped away from Naruto like he was a leper with a screech. "Ok, ok! I let him go!"

Naruto then proceeded to take a deep breath. Ah, precious air...

"Now, Anko and I are going to dinner. Do you want to join us?"

The blond genin shook his head. "Sorry, I'm tired. Just got back from my training trip, ya know?" he asked. "I'll see you later."

The two women said their farewells (or in Anko's case, hugged their farewells), before departing to wherever they were planning on going before they spotted him.

Arriving home, he threw himself on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"How will I ask them to leave with me?" Naruto asked himself.

**...Let me talk to Hachimata and Houkou tomorrow, and I will convince them to convince their containers to join you.**

"How do you plan on doing that, Kyuubi-sama?"

**It does not matter, mortal. Mind your own business.**

"...Hai, Kyuubi-sama."

-

A/N: I really really hate it when authors make Naruto so disrespectful of Kyuubi. And when Naruto gets all prissy, going "I demand to know why you attacked Konoha you stupid furball!" it REALLY pisses me off. Why the hell should it have a reason? To Kyuubi, humans are like ants. Why the hell should he care about whether or not he steps on their homes or kills their people? We do the same with ants. We step on anthills, sometimes cuz we're bored, or sometimes cuz it's fun. And some people like to burn ants with fire (or other bugs)! Who's not to say that Kyuubi was taking a walk when he "accidentally" stepped on Konoha?

Back to the disrespect thing. Kyuubi is the strongest demon...ever. Just because it's stuck in you doesn't mean it can't do SOMETHING. I refuse to believe that a human could totally ensnare a demon as great as Kyuubi, rendering it as helpless as a baby fox. If Naruto wants to disrespect Kyuubi, then he better be fucking stronger than the fox.

Another thing that just bothers me is the kit thing. It just doesn't sit right, reading stories where Kyuubi always says "Hey kit". That's why you'll notice that I have not done that once in my story.

Sorry about the rant. I've just been reading lots of stories like that recently...

**BIG NOTE: **My information on the Memory Suppression Seal was from chapter 30 of Artful Lounger's Kage no Naruto, which is an unbelievably awesome story that needs to be read. Also, if you haven't realized, the seal is used by Sasori in canon. The part about using the seal to track people was made up by Lounger's creative mind.

-

**Original Techniques****: **(Please, if you know Japanese, tell me if any of these things make sense, cuz I'm really just making things up here.)

Katon: Kaensho Haki - Fire Release: Flame Thrower  
Smaller version of the Katon: Goukakyuu. Due to its smaller size, the user can focus it in one area, unlike the Goukakyuu, which is a wide-scale destruction technique. This also makes it more powerful. Perfect jutsu to start a forest fire.

Katon: Kazangan Kotetsu - Fire Release: Lava Armor  
Utilizing his mastery over fire, Naruto coats the earth with his fiery chakra and forces it to cover him, basically encasing him a suit of armor made of lava.

Katon: Hidama no Hitoame - Fire Release: Shower of Fireballs  
Basically, this technique creates a firestorm. Fireballs the size of a small meteor will rain down on the enemy. This can be considered the big brother of the Katon: Housenka, which releases small fireballs the size of a shuriken. Ranked S for its destructiveness and difficulty to master.


	8. Chapter 8: Erasing All Doubt

Chapter 8: Erasing All Doubt

The next morning, Naruto was quickly outside, anxious to have the Kyuubi meet with the other two bijuu.

He was in the marketplace before he knew it, but then a thought struck him. He had never been to Kurenai's house before, and he was experiencing a hangover during the time he was at Anko's place, so he had one way to find the two women's residence.

Closing his eyes, he expanded his senses out and tried to find the now-extremely-familiar feeling of Anko and Kurenai's demonic chakra, which was separate from their human chakra.

He felt both of their chakras coming from the same direction.

Heading off, it wasn't too long before he came to a large complex near the Hokage Tower. By the looks of it, it was a shinobi-only building.

He went in, still following the demonic feeling, arriving at the sixth floor. He could still feel both Kurenai and Anko living on the same floor. He approached the third door on the right and knocked three times.

The thudding of feet hitting the floor could be heard, along with a muffled, "Coming!"

The door slowly opened, and a rousled and groggy Anko peered out.

"What, you brat?" she asked. Lack of sleep reduced her tendency to call him embarrassing names.

"Kyuubi-sama wishes to talk to Hachimata-san," Naruto informed her, using a lesser title to denote a demon of lesser status.

"...Wha?"

Naruto pushed the door in futher and stepped inside, before closing it with his foot.

'_Kyuubi-sama?_'

**Yeah, yeah, just look into the girl's eyes.**

Obeying the great demon's command, Naruto looked right into Anko's groggy eyes.

One minute passed.

Two minues passed.

Three minutes passed.

Fifteen minutes passed.

And suddenly, color and sound rushed back to them, unfreezing the two from their demon-induced stop.

"What the fuck?" Anko cursed, all semblances of sleep lost. Tilting her head, her eyes lost any concentration in them, as she started to talk to the eight-tailed snake demon inside of her. "Alright," Anko finally said with a shrug of her shoulders. "You're the boss, Naru-chan!"

Naruto nodded his head once briefly before leaving. Turning his head towards her, he told her, "I'm going to see Kurenai now. You wanna come?"

She nodded her assent and quickly started to make herself more presentable (in her eyes, at least).

The two left her apartment and walked down the hall to the fifth room. Naruto lifted his hand to knock, but Anko stopped him, showing him a set of keys. Picking one out, she then inserted the key into the lock.

She placed a finger on her lips to signal for silence before stealthily creeping in.

Naruto followed the purple-haired woman in, and looked around. It was neat and tidy, the exact opposite of Anko's room.

Looking back at Anko, he spotted her sneaking into a bedroom further in. He hurried to catch up with her, and when he entered the bedroom after her, he saw Anko approaching a lump on the bed with a dango stick that she pulled from somewhere.

_Poke. Poke._

Kurenai mumbled something incomprehensible and turned her head into the pillow.

_Poke. Poke._

"Stop it," she mumbled again.

_Poke. Poke._

_Wham!_

The dango stick was slapped out of her hands by an angry Kurenai.

Leaping out of the bed she started to talk in an angry voice. "What. Do. You. Want?"

Anko replied with a naughty smile and pointed off to the side, "Well, Naruto wanted to talk to you..."

Kurenai looked at where Anko's finger was pointing and saw Naruto with a slightly bloody nose and his eyes screwed shut.

"Eep! Anko!" she screamed, diving back under the warm confines of her bed.

Anko started to laugh uproariously. "Oh, Nai-chan! You should've seen the look on your face!" she continued to laugh.

The reason for this extremely awkward (to Naruto), embarrassing (to Kurenai), and hilarious (to Anko) situation was the fact that Kurenai was a woman who liked to sleep nude, knowing that the only person who could ever sneak in was Anko, and since they were so close, she didn't care if Anko ever saw her body. Having a younger, although good-looking, _male _friend see her like that though, was cause for total mortification.

"Get out! Get out!" Kurenai commanded, which was an order Naruto hastily followed. He was out of the room faster than they could blink.

The two were out a few minutes later, with Anko holding a bump on her head and Kurenai stalking out like a lioness. Upon seeing Naruto though, her entire demeanor changed, as she was still mortified from earlier.

"You wanted to talk to me, Naruto-kun?" Kurenai asked.

"No, Kyuubi-sama wants to talk to Houkou-san."

"Err...right," she replied hesitantly.

Naruto got up from the couch he was sitting on and approached Kurenai, looking deep into her exotic red eyes.

One minute passed.

Two minutes passed.

Three minutes passed.

Ten minutes passed.

And again, everything came back into focus, except for Anko, who was in Naruto's unoccupied seat with an extremely bored look on her face and a dango stick between her teeth.

"W-what just happened?" Kurenai asked.

Anko was about to say something, but she stopped herself when Kurenai blanked out.

"A-are you sure about this?" Kurenai asked.

Naruto looked at her with a blank stare. "Of course."

"B-but, betraying the village?" she asked incredulously.

"Eh, who cares about the village?" Anko responded flippantly. "I'll go where Naru-chan goes! Think about it Kurenai, we can create our own village, free from corruption! We will become leaders and we will rule!"

"But..."

"No, Kurenai. Think about it. If we told the people of this village about how special we really are, what do you think will happen? That they will welcome us with open arms? No! Even with our power, they will shun us, call for our execution or banishment! But if we have our own village, we can use our power without having others becoming scared of us and trying to kill us!"

Kurenai sighed. "A-alright. I'll...I'll leave the village with you two. I will follow you to the ends of the earth, Naruto-kun," she whispered softly.

"...Thank you. But you should know, there are more leaving with us," Naruto informed them.

"Huh? Who?"

"It's not important right now. You'll find out when it's time."

"And when _will _it be time?" Anko asked curiously.

"The moment I turn sixteen and receive my inheritance, we will leave."

"Inheritance?"

"My father...was the Yondaime," Naruto stated gruffly. "When I turn sixteen, the Sandaime will give me everything my father had, and we will leave then."

"Yondaime?!" the two shouted simultaneously.

"Yes. The most important part of the inheritance is the money and the scrolls of his techniques, both of which will be invaluable to our plans."

"...Alright," they said hesitantly. To find that a good friend of yours was the son of the greatest shinobi on the earth, was, well, surprising, to say the least.

An awkward silence ensued, only to be broken by Anko's suddenly cheerful shout of, "Let's go to the dango stand for breakfast!"

-

Naruto was back to wandering around the area where the foreign shinobi were staying. Even though he was using the Kage Bunshin to enhance his chances of accidentally "bumping" into either Shiso or Yuki, he still felt that being there in the flesh would be a good idea too. It's not like he had much to do anyway.

Eventually, one of the clones around the area (obviously Henged into a random civilian to avoid questions) dispersed, sending the original Naruto and the rest of the clones new information. Shiso was spotted in a nearby barbeque restaurant, owned by the Akimichi clan.

The original Naruto then sent a newly made Kage Bunshin Henged into a middle-aged gentleman with gray hair and a thick mustache into the restaurant. Watching from outside, Naruto saw the clone silently approach the Kiri genin with a solemn expression on his face.

-

_Inside the restaurant_

Shiso was happily eating his barbeque when an old man came over and sat down in the seat across from him, causing him to scowl deeply.

"Hey, old man, what the fuck do you think you're doing?"

"I am," the old man paused and looked around briefly, "the one who crushed you in the chuunin exams," he whispered.

Scoffing, Shiso replied, "Oh, it's you. What do you want now?"

"If you are serious about joining me, then I will need insurance that you will not tell anyone about this."

"And what kind of _insurance _do you require?" Shiso asked suspiciously.

"Nothing harmful. I will need to place a seal on you, which will cause you to forget any meetings you may have had with me. When I am ready to leave in a few years, all of your memories of me will return. Simply put, you will have no memory of me, harming neither I nor yourself."

"Fine," the Kiri genin muttered, as he savagely finished the rest of his meal. Before he could call the waiter for the check, Naruto-the-old-man held his hand and raised his own.

"This one is on me," the Henged clone muttered.

Shiso nodded and grabbed his sword before leaving.

After the waiter had taken the money and left, the clone disappeared with a pop.

The money in the waiter's hand disappeared too.

-

The original Naruto was watching the entire conversation at a distance, and although he couldn't hear a word, he could see that Shiso had consented. Once he spotted Shiso leaving the restaurant, he appeared from wherever he was hiding, utilizing the same Henge that his clone had used, and led Shiso to an abandoned warehouse he knew of.

Once inside, he quickly drew the seal on Shiso's neck, using both his own blood and the recipient's blood. With a minuscule burst of chakra, the seal was applied.

Naruto quickly took off before Shiso could come to his senses, as he would no longer have any memories of Naruto. Not even of his defeat by the blond genin's hands.

Good, now he just had one more person to seal, before he could relax for the next few days.

-

The day passed by, with Naruto not having spotted Yuki at all.

He dispersed his civilian clones, gaining their perspectives of the day. Most of them had nothing interesting to report. One single clone, though, had reported seeing many individuals slipping in and out of a particular building so stealthily that regular civilians could not spot them. This was cause for inspection as the individuals entering the abandoned warehouse did not act like normal Konoha shinobi.

Pondering about this line of thought in his home, Naruto soon came to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to send some extra clones to the area to scout it out.

-

In the weeks that Naruto had been gone, Hanabi's social life went from almost nonexistent to totally nonexistent. Before her teammate's departure, she would occasionally be seen acting like a normal person (for a Hyuuga at least). Following that, however, any attempts to talk to her were turned away. Anyone who dared to look at her was given a harsh glare. A few of the braver souls started to call her the little Ice Princess of Konoha, and eventually, that moniker started to catch on. Even some of the genin in her age group started to call her that. Not to her face, of course.

Rumors started to spread about how the Ice Princess was so strong that she and another genin were placed on a two-man team, rather than a standard three-man team. This, coupled with her attitude kept people firmly away, just the way Hanabi liked it.

She herself had heard the nickname given to her by civilians and done little to discourage it. As a matter of fact, she would sometimes even help spread the rumors through her actions.

By the time Naruto had returned, she was reaping the benefits of being left alone by people she didn't want to talk to, not including her family.

Currently, she was in a regular training field, rather than the Forest of Death because the area was closed off in preparation for security for the finals of the chuunin exams. The winds were blowing softly, sending her hair flying around her. Her mind was focused on striking imaginary targets with precise and pinpoint hits using her varied Jyuuken style.

Her Byakugan was off though, explaining why she did not see her silent older sister approach.

"H-Hanabi-chan?" Hinata's soft voice asked.

The younger Hyuuga spun around and stared at her older sister. "What do you want?" she spat as she pushed the hair out of her face. The wind was getting stronger.

"W-we've gotten so distant l-lately," Hinata replied quietly. Her two fingers pushed against each other. "We were such g-good friends back then," she continued wistfully. "I-I just want to know, Hanabi-chan. Why?"

"Maybe it's because I'm the one who has to suffer! Maybe it's because I'm the one who is going to get branded. Maybe it's because I'm the one who deserves to be clan head, not you!" Hanabi yelled back at her sister, before stomping off angrily. All thoughts of training fled as rage clouded her mind.

Behind her, Hinata's pale eyes began to tear up as her younger sister's harsh words finally sunk in. "H-Ha-Hanabi-chan," she whispered, her words being heard only by the slowly dying winds...

-

A/N: Sorry, but this time between the 2nd and 3rd part of the exams are just hard for me to write. I have no idea what I'm doing, and when I reread over my stuff, it just sounds like crap. And there's also the fact that my attention's being swayed by Conquer Club...


	9. Chapter 9: Invasion

Chapter 9: Invasion

"Welcome everyone, to the third part of the chuunin exams!"

A roar arose at that declaration.

"First match: Kinuta Dosu and Nii Madoka! If that's not your name, please leave the arena!" the proctor announced to the anticipating crowds.

The participating genin left the arena in various fashions, all ending up in the walkways above this new stadium.

The Konoha genin teams that weren't part of the exams (Teams 7 through 10) sat up in the shinobi section of the stands, while the foreign teams that did not make it past the 1st or 2nd exam sat in their own designated sections, each named after the village they were from.

There was a giant section high up in the stands where the daimyos and Kages were sitting together, each with a number of guards.

Naruto could spot only one or two ANBU in the civilian section, and the only reason for that is because he knew there would be several in the crowds. When he looked up at the "nobles" section (where the daimyos and Kages were), he could see that the Sandaime was sitting up there in his seat, tense, ready to act at a moment's notice. They had not learned exactly during which match the invasion would start, but they did know it was sometime during this third part.

"Begin!" the proctor yelled and jumped away.

Madoka immediately threw her hand straight up into the air and made four one-handed seals in the space of a second. "Raiton: Raigeki!"

The area above her suddenly turned gray and menacing, before it clumped together to form a dark cloud. From the cloud emerged two bolts of lightning, both aimed at her opponent.

Dosu leapt to the side while throwing a barrage of kunai at her.

Her right hand still pointing upwards, she used her left hand to direct the next several lightning bolts, which were made to target the incoming kunai. Dodging would've been a better idea, but the technique she was using required her to be stationary.

"You think lightning can beat sound waves? Think again!" Dosu bragged. Punching the air, he let loose a wave of sound. True to his words, Madoka's lightning did nothing to stop them. The moment they hit her, she collapsed the ground, holding her stomach.

Dosu continued to stand in front of her, not pressing his attack. And that was his mistake.

"Raiton: Shurai!"

With an electrically charged fist, she slammed Dosu in the stomach, causing his eyes to bug out while he twitched, showing signs of electrocution.

"Winner, Nii Madoka!"

The crowd cheered. It was an interesting match. Not spectacular, but interesting.

"Next match: Hyuuga Hanabi and Tsuchi Kin!"

Both girls jumped down, while Dosu was hauled away by the medics.

Just as the proctor was about to begin, two loud shouts were heard by all.

"Yeah Hanabi-sama! Kick some ass! Beat the shit out of the Oto freak!"

All eyes in the stadium turned to look at the two men.

It was Den and Kouzo, finally having made it back to Konoha all the way from Gatou's mansion.

If not for her Ice Queen facade, Hanabi swore she would've died of embarrassment.

"Right...Anyway, let the second match begin!"

Ignoring the cheers from the two men, Hanabi dashed straight at Kin, hoping to finish the match quickly. Alas, that was not to be. Kin already knew that Hanabi was a short-distance fighter, so it would be to her advantage to stay away, seeing as how she herself was a long-distance genjutsu user. Even then, this wouldn't do much, as the Byakugan would destroy any genjutsus that she could cast.

Seeing no other choice, Kin decided that she had to win by using her senbon. Throwing two at Hanabi to check her reactions, Kin noted that Hanabi caught both senbon with her hands and then threw them to the ground, all without stopping her charge. Leaping back a few feet, Kin threw several more senbon. This time, they all struck true. Hanabi's reaction was not expected though.

The Hanabi she hit disappeared with a poof of smoke! It was a bunshin! Before Kin could make another move, Hanabi's kunai was stabbed into Kin's shoulder from behind, making the Oto girl cry out. As Kin fell to the ground, Hanabi pulled a second kunai out and stabbed Kin in the leg, eliciting an even louder shriek. Before Hanabi could pull a third weapon out, the proctor had grabbed her hand and declared her the winner.

Hanabi snorted in derision at how easy her win was. It was no challenge whatsoever.

"Yeah, that's the way to go!" the Denkouzo brothers yelled together, clapping loudly and hooting at the top of their lungs. Hanabi promptly ignored them and joined Naruto back up in the walkways with the rest of the participants.

Naruto nodded at his teammate in a sign of recognition, or as a way to say "Nice."

Hanabi responded with a shrug, as if to say, "As if I was going to lose."

As soon as Kin was hauled away, the proctor appeared in the center of the arena once more to announce the third match. "Uzumaki Naruto versus Subaku no Gaara!"

Gaara appeared at the bottom in a swirl of sand while Naruto jumped down from where he was standing.

"Uzumaki."

"Gaara."

"Begin!"

As soon as Gaara leapt away, the sand in his gourd emerged and surrounded him, encasing him in a ball of sand.

Naruto had a bad feeling about what was about to happen next. His instincts were screaming, "GET THE HELL AWAY!"

His brain, however, refused to listen and forced his hands into position.

"Katon: Goukakyuu!" He inhaled deeply, paused for a second, and exhaled, releasing a spew of hot flames.

Before the flames could die down, his hands moved through a series of practiced hand seals. "Katon: Kasen!"

The flames from his previous attack started to form a single arrow, rather than the multitude it usually formed. The arrow grew bigger and bigger, eventually reaching a length of seven feet.

Grabbing the arrow-turned-spear in his hands, Naruto flung the flaming arrow at the ball of sand that was Gaara with all his might.

With a sizzle, the arrow managed to pierce the outer shell. However, instead of a scream of pain, an evil cackle was heard.

"Almost...you almost managed to hurt me. For that, I will give you...a quick DEATH!"

The ball of sand exploded, showering sand all over the lower levels of the audience.

At the same moment, a feather fell from the sky.

A roar sounded.

The invasion had started.

-

Every single shinobi present leapt into combat, ignoring the weak genjutsu that was meant to put the civilians to sleep.

Hanabi joined Naruto on the ground immediately, but he waved her off.

"Go, Hanabi. This is my battle."

She nodded and jumped at a nearby group of Oto chuunin who were engaging a group of Konoha shinobi.

The screams of the dying, the whoosh of displaced air from throwing projectiles, and the roars of the techniques seemed to fade away as Naruto faced off with Gaara, who's entire right arm was encased in sand.

"Let me show you the power of Shukaku," Gaara whispered menacingly.

His enlarged hand flew at Naruto, forcing the boy to jump into the air.

In response, Gaara flung his normal left hand at Naruto, and a storm of sand flew at him.

Seeing the wave of sand, Naruto brought his hand up to his mouth and blew. Flames met sand at that moment.

The attack stopped, Naruto fell down to the ground and landed with his knees bent. The moment he hit the ground, he dashed straight at Gaara, who stood patiently, awaiting his arrival.

Naruto cocked his arm back in preparation for a punch, and Gaara still waited.

He unleashed his attack, and the moment it got within an inch of Gaara, his fist exploded into flames.

Not expecting that, Gaara was blown away, hitting the wall with a loud thud.

-

Two Oto chuunin slowly approached Hanabi, wary as they had seen the young Hyuuga dispose of their comrades extremely quickly and extremely simply.

Hanabi stood in her Jyuuken stance, watching with her Byakugan as the two no-namers approached her. Before she could strike, two blurs landed in front of her and killed the approaching Oto shinobi.

"Hanabi-sama!" Den and Kouzo shouted. "What are your orders?"

"Umm...just kill any shinobi that's not wearing a Konoha hitae-ate," she responded.

The two nodded and departed, seeking anyone that fit Hanabi's criteria.

Hanabi trailed behind the two, killing any fallen shinobi that were injured by the brothers' strikes.

However, she was suddenly attacked by a shinobi from Iwa.

The man laughed gruffly and stabbed his katana at the young Hyuuga.

Hanabi slapped the sword aside and spun into the man's guard, before hitting him in the knee with a chakra-enforced kick. A snap was heard, and the man fell to the ground, screaming. The screams were silenced by Hanabi's shuriken.

She then ducked, avoiding the barrage of kunai thrown at her from behind. Without even looking, she plucked the shuriken from the recently-killed shinobi in front of her and flung it at the person who threw the kunai at her. The shuriken hit with 100 percent accuracy, due to Hanabi's Byakugan.

She was once again attacked by a shinobi, although this time it was a Suna kunoichi.

The kunoichi held two daggers in her hand, both with a reverse grip.

The Suna kunoichi swung her daggers at Hanabi, thinking that her extended blade (due to the wind chakra she was pumping into them) would catch the genin off guard. She obviously had never fought a Hyuuga before.

Without much of a problem, Hanabi took two steps away from the weapon, waited until the kunoichi was off guard, and leapt forward quickly, jabbing her fist into the woman's gut, followed by a quick knee to her head. A slash of her kunai and the woman was down for good.

Continuing to move, she then unsealed her rapier. It wasn't her ideal weapon, but it gave her an extended reach, something very useful against the Suna shinobi.

-

It was almost time.

Almost.

Time.

Madoka was getting butterflies in her stomach. She was nervous and excited at the same time.

Her jounin sensei and her two teammates with her, all heading towards the closest exit.

It was an invasion of Konoha, and her sensei had told them that it wasn't any of their business. It was best to run.

Now, the young genin was waiting for a shinobi or group of shinobi to attack them. It would be then that she would commence the plan.

Two Iwa jounin suddenly appeared in front of them.

Her sensei moved to a taijutsu stance and warned the experienced shinobi, "We're from Kumo, we don't have a problem with you guys."

"Sorry lady," one replied. "Our orders are to kill everyone we see. No exceptions."

The two moved forwards, ready to attack.

Her sensei leapt forwards and ducked down, trying to sweep both pairs of feet. However, she hit nothing, as both jounin had jumped over her leg.

The first one started to attack her sensei, and the second one threw three kunai at the girls. Each kunai was wrapped with an exploding seal.

'_Now!_'

Activating the special seal that Naruto had given her, she was given half a second to use a Kawarimi to get out of harm's way.

_Boom!_

Chunks of meat were sent flying, and the two nearby girls that were on Madoka's genin team screamed.

"Madoka!" they cried out. One immediately fainted, while the second one took the time to vomit, before her eyes rolled up and followed the first girl into unconsciousness.

The sensei of the team flicked her eyes back towards Madoka and ignored it. Mourning could come later. Her life, and the two life of the two genin, were in danger right now.

Several hundred yards away, Madoka appeared with a puff of smoke. She immediately slinked away from the area. Directions given to her from Naruto helped her find the training area where the second exam had taken place, and she quickly entered.

-

"Kukuku..."

"Orochimaru, it's been a long time..."

"Yes it has, sensei. I see that old age has made you a worthless fool. Your village will be destroyed, just like you!"

"_My _village? It used to be your village too, you know, Orochimaru..."

"I have long forsaken this weak village."

"You know, you could've been great if you had not strayed so far from the path. Why, Orochimaru, why? You were like a son to me!"

"I did what I did...because I felt like it, you senile old man," the pale man sneered. "Now die!"

And the battle between sensei and student began.

-

"Ugh..."

A groan came from the pile of rubble that Gaara laid under.

"Get up, Gaara. Get up and fight. I will show you the true meaning of power!"

With a growl, the redhead emerged from the rubble. "Power? You know nothing of power! I _am _power! I have the Ichibi no Shukaku at my call and beckon!"

"The Ichibi, eh? Just the pathetic One Tail? The power of your raccoon is nothing..."

Naruto disappeared.

Gaara blinked and suddenly he felt a blinding pain in his stomach. There, in front of him, Naruto stood with his flaming fist buried in Gaara.

"...compared to the power of the Kyuubi."

As the Suna genin doubled over, Naruto whispered, "If you join me, I will teach you true power. I will make you strong, I will make you unstoppable!"

Like Shiso, Gaara was a power-hungry person. He was the kind of person who loved fighting strong opponents. Nothing would ever get through to them unless they were utterly crushed in battle. And Naruto planned on doing just that.

Ignoring Naruto's words, Gaara got back up and glared at the blond.

"Sabaku Kyuu (Desert Coffin)!"

The sand surrounding Naruto leapt up and grabbed his legs.

Naruto looked down at the sand that was now crawling up his thighs.

"You're not escaping this one," Gaara sneered. "Your blood will saturate my sand! Sabaku Sousou (Desert Funeral)!"

The sand exploded, but no blood appeared with it.

Before the sand could even settle, Naruto appeared.

"Katon: Goukakyuu!"

Gaara sidestepped it and slashed his hand through the air.

"Fuuton: Tatsu no Ooshigoto (Wind Release: Dragon's Big Job)!"

The jutsu was a very simple, although destructive, technique. The user would send chakra into his hand and release it at the apex of his swing, where it would take off into the sky and form a tornado. The tornado would then come crashing down on the target.

The roaring winds of the tornado pulled fallen leaves, weapons, branches, and random debris into its vortex, and continued its downward path towards Naruto, who was staring up in awe at its sheer destructiveness.

'_I don't remember seeing this jutsu in the scroll..._'

The winds started to rip at his skin, so he dived to the side. Three shuriken were released from his hand at the same time, although these projectiles were encased in fire. Sure, the fire ruined the weapons, but it _did _give them a deadlier edge.

"Suna Shuriken!" Gaara yelled as he flung his hand out as if an actual shuriken was in his hand.

The sand shuriken hit the flaming shuriken, causing a stalemate (yet again). This did not deter the two fighters though, as they ignored the fallen projectiles.

Naruto ran up to Gaara and jabbed twice as quick as he could, but Gaara's sand blocked his attacks without hesitation.

Jumping back, Naruto stuck his hand out. A ball of fire started to coalesce in his hand. His eyes flickered up at Gaara, who decided that allowing Naruto to finish his jutsu would be a bad idea.

He kicked his foot out, and the sand on the ground formed a spike that raced towards the blond.

"Katon: Shoidan!" Lobbing the ball of fire over the spike, Naruto couldn't avoid Gaara's attack, so he watched as the spike impaled him in the stomach. His blood seeped into the sand, giving the sand an ominous look. At the same time, the ball of fire he had lobbed hit Gaara's sand shield.

An explosion sounded, blowing away all of the nearby sand and encasing Gaara in a ball of glass at the same time.

Blood trickled out of Naruto's mouth, so he wiped it with a sleeve. "I told you I'd show you true power," he commented solemnly.

His stomach wound immediately started to heal itself, but the sand that was still lodged in his stomach caused him some pain.

Naruto grunted twice, and the sand was ejected out of his body thanks to his regeneration abilities.

_Crack!_

Naruto's head snapped upwards.

_Crack!_

The glass encasing Gaara had two large cracks in it. Not a good thing for Naruto.

_Crack! Boom!_

Shards of glass were sent everywhere as Gaara freed himself from his glass prison. The sound of his heavy breathing was audible to Naruto, and Naruto's heavy breathing was audible to Gaara.

"Hah...you haven't...beaten me...yet," Gaara panted.

"Maybe...not," Naruto responded, allowing his wound a little more time to heal. "But I have something you don't."

"Yeah? And what do you have that I don't?"

"This."

-

A/N: Did you guys know that there isn't a single Raiton jutsu listed in the jutsu archives of Leafninja that an OC character can use? Seriously, all of the Raiton techniques are Chidori/Raikiri based, and I can't exactly just let my OC Madoka use them (however interesting that would be...).

Gaara is not CRAZY in my story. He doesn't go on craving about how mother wants your blood, or shit. He's a shinobi who loves to fight. He's CRUEL, not psycho. So basically, you can imagine Gaara living a normal life without the villagers of Suna going "OMG CRAZY PSYCHO SAND KID!" nor the constant assassination attempts from people he knew. He is the son of the Kazekage, and so he gets the benefits of such a high position, like more technique scrolls normally forbidden to genin, he gets to join academy earlier, and other stuff.


	10. Chapter 10: A Sound Defeat

Chapter 10: A Sound Defeat

Duck. Sidestep. Lunge. Stab. Parry. Slice. Jump. Duck. Parry. Parry. Sidestep. Slice. Stab.

Hanabi's movements were like water; they were calm, precise, and nonstop. She flowed from one move to another, showing skills way beyond that of a normal genin. She was good with the rapier, but she wasn't a master.

"Ooh, a little girl thinks she can keep up with the big kids?" a taunting voice shouted out.

Hanabi spun to face the owner of the voice. An older woman in her mid-twenties stood across from Hanabi. Everything about her was plain and unassuming except for the two giant bracers she wore on her forearms.

Without a warning, the older woman slammed her fist into the ground, causing a shockwave that threw the earth up into the air.

Hanabi slipped her rapier under her armpit, seeing as she had no time to seal it away, and struck the center of the shockwave with a Jyuuken strike, making the upturned earth fall harmlessly to the ground.

In a moment of poor judgment, Hanabi turned her Byakugan off, as she didn't want to have the doujutsu suck away all of her chakra. This was unfortunate, because otherwise, she would have seen the fist coming at her from her right.

A kunai thrown at the Iwa jounin caused her to veer away, luckily saving Hanabi from a painful encounter with a powerful fist. Two Konoha chuunin appeared.

One glanced at Hanabi and muttered, "Go help the Academy teachers evacuate the citizens and children."

Her eyes flickered towards the speaking chuunin for a moment, before she nodded and leapt away.

Dashing through the rooftops, she could see countless minor skirmishes taking place around her, as well as several groups of shinobi attacking the summoned snakes that were wreaking havoc in the distance.

Making her way to the Academy, she could see the chuunin there engaging several enemy shinobi. Although it was a cruel thing to do, targeting your enemy's children was a smart thing to do, as they would be the next generation of fighters otherwise. Their deaths could greatly cripple a shinobi nation's power.

She grabbed a handful of shuriken and kunai and threw them at the enemies. None of them struck, as the shinobi down there deflected or avoided them quite easily. They did, however, suffer from injuries that the Konoha chuunin then caused, as the flying projectiles distracted the enemies' attention for a brief moment. Three of the enemy group were struck down.

Her hands formed a cross-shaped seal, and she muttered, "Kage Bunshin!"

Two clones appeared by her side. Jumping down, the trio of girls joined the Academy teachers in fighting back the wave of enemy shinobi.

-

"Yeah? And what do you have that I don't?"

"This."

Naruto forced his hands to form the hand seals for a move that he had learned from Kagutsuchi. The jutsu was a technique that was restricted to gods, but Kagetsuchi had broken the rule to teach him this. Seeing as how it _was _a divine jutsu, the strain from having a mortal use it would be enormous. He probably wouldn't be able to fight anymore after this, but that was ok anyway. He had to meet up with Madoka, after all. As long as the jutsu still left him enough energy to run, he would be fine. A few soldier pills wouldn't hurt, either.

"DoKaton: Ame no Infernal (Earth and Fire Release: Infernal's Rain)!"

His hands glowed a dark greenish color. He threw his hands up into the air, and suddenly, the sky darkened. A black hole, the likes of which had never before been seen, seemed to form above them all.

The people fighting below the black hole all stopped. Even those who were fighting inside Konoha had stopped what they were doing. _Citizens _stopped their fleeing to watch this spectacle.

Lightning sounded. Evil intent seemed to _pour _from the hole, making many start to shiver.

Then, giant, flaming rocks fell to the ground, creating rumbles as they hit. The rocks stood up, encased in a hellish green fire, forming three such monstrosities. They stood side-by-side, towering over the people below with a height of fifteen feet.

"ROARRRRR!"

All three Infernals roared loudly, shaking the earth with their voices and causing some people to go temporarily deaf.

They stomped the ground, and the earth shook even more. Cracks started to form beneath them, and more shinobi who were caught unaware fell into the gaping abyss that the monsters created.

Their screams shook the rest of the shinobi out of their shock-induced stupor.

Gaara, shocked mindless, stumbled back. "S-so powerful! Im-impossible!"

Naruto, extremely tired due to the exertion of using this insanely strong jutsu, collapsed to his knees.

In a moment of suicidal rage, Gaara flung his hands at the closest Infernal, and his sand rushed to envelop the monster. The sand didn't even get within ten feet of the Infernal before it turned into glass.

The container of Ichibi fell to the ground in disbelief. The display of power was too much...

"Your power...I want it..."

"And all I ask of you is that you join me in my quest," Naruto replied tiredly.

Gaara nodded mutely. "Very well..."

"Good," Naruto responded, before he reached into his pouch and pulled out a handful of soldier pills. Swallowing them all in one swoop, he managed to regain about forty percent of the chakra he used. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to keep him running. It was a good thing that he had the Kyuubi, or else he would've died right then and there, as taking even _two _soldier pills at once was enough to kill a normal person. "Go back to Suna for me. In a few years, I will call for you. Until then, make no mention of me nor your change in alliances."

Gaara nodded.

-

"W-what is that monstrosity?" Orochimaru asked, as he stared at the giant flaming monsters from atop the roof that he and Sarutobi had been fighting on moments before they felt the rumble.

"You mean it's not yours?!" the Sandaime asked, shocked, as his eyes darted towards his ex-apprentice.

The pale man shook his head. If it _had _been his, he could've conquered all of the shinobi nations by now...

"Then whose is it?" Sarutobi mused.

The monsters roared again, and beat their chests with their huge, rocky fists.

"No matter, I will find whoever summoned those things...as soon as you are dead!" And Orochimaru sprung back into battle with his old sensei.

-

"A code red has been called," Hanabi announced as she swept into the classroom.

"..."

The rest of the class stared at the short girl who had just randomly burst into their room.

"What for?" one curious boy with a scarf tied around his neck asked.

"Do you not hear the sounds of fighting outside?" Hanabi retorted.

As one, two dozen heads turned to look outside.

At that moment, two chuunin entered the room.

"Code red, children! Evacuate immediately!" one informed the class. "Quickly!" he shouted, panting.

The class quickly got up and followed Hanabi and the two chuunin into a secret trapdoor located in a storage room under several boxes. The tunnel that they entered led them all the way under the Hokage monument, where they met up with several dozen civilians who had not attended the chuunin exam.

As they walked, the boy with the scarf, Konohamaru, started a conversation with the girl who had entered the room before. "Who are you? And how do you have a hitae-ate when you look like you're our age?"

She didn't even spare a glance towards the boy, instead choosing to continue walking with the civilians to the safe spot.

"Hey!" Konohamaru cried. "Stop ignoring me!"

Several of his classmates looked towards the commotion before turning their attention back to following the two chuunin at the front, with Hanabi playing guard near the back.

He reached towards her shoulder with a hand, but it was grabbed in her small, icy hands and twisted, nearly breaking his arm.

"Owwww!" he yelled frantically.

"Don't touch me," she said to him coldly, letting his hand go.

Konohamaru retracted his hand and rubbed his arm, looking at her warily. "Sheesh..."

-

Her nervousness was reaching all new heights. She could hear explosions off in the distance, and occasionally, blotches of red, orange, and strangely, green could be seen through the dense woodland area that she was in.

'_Where is he?_'

Madoka was waiting for Naruto, so that he could bring her to a temporary hideout that he had prepared. Namely, this old stadium. He had told her that the place was already outfitted with furniture and some basic living supplies. It was an ideal hideout because not only was it rarely going to be used, but the area around her was too difficult to bother traversing for Konoha shinobi, and it provided a good source of food and water when her supplies ran out. Add to that, she could train all she wanted, and no one would bother her, and it made one excellent hiding place.

A pair of feet landed a little distance away from her.

"Come."

Madoka followed the blond into the living area, which contained a little dust, since it hadn't been used in a few weeks.

"You'll be staying here for the next few years. I'll come visit every two or so days, so if you need anything, just ask me then. Let _no one _know of your presence here."

"Hai, Naruto-sama."

"Good. Any questions?"

"I...want to spend my spare time training...Do you think you can get me some jutsu scrolls?" she asked curiously.

Thinking about it, Naruto had to ponder the thought of giving her his two advanced Fuuton and Katon scrolls. They were technically his, but they were given to him by the great Kyuubi...

**Don't even think about it.**

'_...Would you allow me to give her the scrolls, Kyuubi-sama?_'

**I said no.**

'_Then what if I copied the jutsus onto a different scroll?_'

**...Fine. But do not give her any of the S-ranked techniques. They are too dangerous for a genin of her capability.**

'_Hai._'

Making a Kage Bunshin, Naruto then instructed it to copy all of the techniques that were ranked A or lower.

"I have three scrolls for you. A Katon scroll, a Fuuton scroll, and a genjutsu scroll. Each one is very detailed and contain many techniques. You can start training yourself now, or not. Whatever you want," Naruto told her.

She nodded, and sat down to wait while the Kage Bunshin scribbled everything down.

"Disperse when you are done," Naruto commanded the clone, who responded with a slight nod. "Now to go supervise my Infernals..." he muttered.

-

Naruto raced back to the new stadium, albeit slightly slower, due to the vast amount of chakra he had expended with his Infernal jutsu. He had only been there for a few minutes before he spotted Yuki and her jounin instructor, fighting Konoha shinobi outside the walls of the stadium.

Seeing as how he still had to apply the seal on her, he chose to engage her in a mock fight.

He hit the ground with a roll, and jumped up and slammed a foot into Yuki, sending her flying away from her sensei. The sensei, luckily, was too busy defending himself to bother taking care of his student, so Naruto followed Yuki to the wall she hit. Getting up with a groan, she stood up and prepared to fight her attacker, when she noticed it was the one she swore loyalty to.

"I need to apply a seal on you. It'll erase all memories you have of me. Once I unlock it, your memories will be back. I need to apply it so that you won't accidentally give me away," he explained quickly, spotting the quizzical expression on her face. "We need to be a little farther away from the fighting so that I can apply it, so play along," he told her.

He ran to her and punched her. Yuki didn't block, so she flew back. Luckily, Naruto didn't hit hard, so it was a light fall. A few more times, and they were far enough to escape being detected. With a kunai, he pricked his finger and her finger and pooled the blood together. Dipping his bloodied finger into the mixed blood, he then drew a complex seal onto the back of her neck. When his finger finished tracing the last line, he sent a burst of chakra through his finger and into the seal, which melted away to show nothing remaining.

Naruto stepped to Yuki's front and grabbed her by the shoulders. Looking into her eyes, he whispered, "Your memories are suppressed. Go back to your sensei, and act normally. Do not get yourself killed."

And with that, Naruto disappeared, returning back to his Infernals.

A few seconds later, Yuki shook her head and looked around. She was lying against a slab of rock that was once a wall. Rising to her feet, she then returned back towards her sensei, who she hoped had not been killed while she was gone.

-

The three Infernals were attacked by various shinobi. However, nothing that they did affected the flaming behemoths.

One Infernal smashed its fist into the ground, trying to crush several of the pesky people surrounding its feet, but they all dispersed. The fist instead caused the earth to shake, offsetting the balance of many shinobi.

Another Infernal punched the barrier surrounding the Hokage and Orochimaru, causing the barrier to flicker briefly.

"Shit!" one of the four Oto ninja that held up the barrier muttered. The monster's single attack was enough to do great damage to the barrier, when three ANBU members could do nothing against it.

One of the Oto shinobi made a series of hand seals before spewing out a torrent of water. Two of his comrades joined him. All three directed their water spouts and the flaming Infernals, hoping to put out the fire.

Unluckily for them, the water evaporated upon contact, creating vast amounts of steam.

With a roar, the Infernal stomped on the three, killing them immediately.

Seeing how futile it was to fight these things, the shinobi in the area tried to escape, fear clutching at their hearts.

It was at this moment that Naruto came back, watching how the people were scared senseless.

'_Test run, success,_' he told himself. With a mental command, the three Infernals stopped their rampage and broke apart into pieces, showering the earth below with thousands of chunks of rocks. The rocks hit the ground, and disappeared, leaving no signs of what was once a flaming rock creature.

Cries of shock arose from the scattered shinobi populace, wondering what had caused those _things _to disappear like that.

"...Those monsters are gone! Return to your battles!" one of the Oto leaders shouted.

The astonished shinobi regained their sense of selves and began to renew the attacks.

-

Seeing the battle renew itself, Naruto jumped down into the middle of things. With a flick of his wrist, he sent two kunai flying at an Iwa shinobi, who ducked under it. Rushing towards the blond genin, the enemy shinobi punched the ground, causing spikes to appear under Naruto. With nary a glance, he jumped over them and spinkicked the man in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards.

Naruto lunged forwards, trying to continue his onslaught, but a blast of air forced him to jump back. This gave the stumbling Iwa shinobi a chance to regain his bearings and counter with two more spikes of rock.

Unsealing his sword, Naruto swung it at the rising spikes, and chopped them in half. He then threw a single shuriken at the older man, but it was blocked by the man's arm. The chuunin, ignoring the pain in his arm, made a single seal before slamming his palm into the ground, causing chunks of earth to rise up into the air and shoot at Naruto.

With a sealless Kawarimi, Naruto switched places with one of the chunks of earth closest to the man, causing the man to shout out in surprise. Unfortunately for him, his cry was silenced by a punch to the throat, followed by a slash of a kunai, ensuring that he remained silent forever.

Looking up, Naruto spotted one of the masked Konoha ANBU fighting off three jounin. Knowing that however good the ANBU could have been, fighting three jounin at a time would only result in his death.

So, Naruto jumped into the battle, catching one of the jounin off guard with a punch to the stomach, followed by an uppercut to the chin, sending the jounin flying. Naruto didn't even have a moment to celebrate his success before he had to duck, avoiding the roundhouse kick from the second jounin. His hands shot up, grabbing the outstretched leg, and he snapped his elbow down on it, breaking the man's leg and making it bend the opposite way. The man's screams were cut off when Naruto grabbed him and used him as a shield against the axe that the third man had.

Dropping the body and leaping back at the same time, Naruto watched as the ANBU silently Shunshined behind the third shinobi and slit his throat with a kunai.

"Thanks kid," the man muttered before jumping off to engage several more enemies.

-

So many! Yuki glanced around cautiously, observing the number of Konoha shinobi that surrounded her and her sensei. With so many of her fellow Iwa shinobi dead, she knew that the time to retreat had come. However, she could not retreat until it was officially sounded, or else she'd be branded a coward and traitor to Iwa the moment she returned.

Therefore, all she could do until the call to retreat was to stay alive.

Grabbing a stray kunai out of the air, she used that to deflect three shuriken thrown at her.

Fatigue was getting to her, and she knew she wouldn't survive for much longer.

She heard a shout, and then felt a roar of flames, rushing to meet her. Forcing as much chakra as she could into her legs, she then leapt, clearing the heat by several yards at least. Jumping into the air left her wide open for other attacks though. Two more blasts of fire were shot at her, but she utilized a quick Kawarimi to switch places with a flying kunai a bit away.

Luckily, it was at that moment that the call to retreat was sounded.

"Sensei! It's time to retreat!" she called, spinning to find her sensei, only to find him pierced by a sword from a Konoha jounin. "Damn!" she cursed, fleeing by herself.

Turning her head back, she was relieved to find that none of the Konoha shinobi were chasing her.

Giving a silent prayer, she then urged her legs to keep running.

-

Hanabi was stuck under the Hokage monument with several chuunin and a bunch of civilians and academy students, none of which was doing her mood any good. The constant fearful bickering was seriously starting to get to her, and it was only moments before she would explode.

"Hey you."

"What?!" she snapped.

"You still haven't answered my questions!" the boy shouted petulantly.

"If you touch me again, I will snap your wrist!" she replied.

"No you won't, because I'm the Hokage's grandson! And hurting me would get you in BIG trouble. So ha!"

Hanabi stared at him for a moment, before delivering a sharp jab to the boy's ribs.

Konohamaru yelled in pain, immediately clutching at his side. "I'm telling on you!" he cried loudly.

More heads turned towards them, and Hanabi acted as if nothing was wrong. Quickly leaving his side, she went up to one of the chuunin. "I'm going back out. They need all of the manpower possible," she informed the young man.

Nodding, he pointed at a giant section of wall off to the side. "Go through there. It's a genjutsu that's making sure the civilians don't flee in panic, and it'll take you straight to the top of the monument.

Without a backwards glance, she slipped through the genjutsu. Climbing up the stone staircase, she quickly pushed her way past the moss-covered wooden board that covered the exit. As she passed through, she could detect the faint signs of a genjutsu, telling her that the flimsy board was not all that protected the exit.

She scrambled up to the very tip of the Hokage monument, above the Yondaime's head. From there, she could see tons of battles taking place, and from the looks of it, there were more dead Oto shinobi than Iwa or Konoha shinobi.

Not even a minute later, she could see the enemy shinobi retreating, fleeing the damaged but still great village of Konoha.

-

Sarutobi crouched down, panting heavily as he watched his old student do the same.

"You've lost this one, Orochimaru-kun."

"Never!" the pale man hissed back, clutching the remains of his left arm. A moment of overconfidence had cost him his arm, and he knew that he had to retreat and recuperate, even though he didn't want to admit it.

With an angry cry of retreat, the purple barrier surrounding him and the Sandaime collapsed, and the four Oto shinobi immediately rushed to the snake's side, protecting him.

"Let's go!" he hissed to them, and the five of them disappeared.

Three ANBU appeared next to the Sandaime, worry evident in their voices.

"Get a medic!" the lead ANBU shouted at his subordinate.

With a nod, one of the lesser two shinobi disappeared.

"Hokage-sama! Are you okay?" the ANBU captain asked.

"Yes, I'm fine."

"Do you want us to pursue the retreating Oto shinobi?"

"No, let them run. We've had enough fighting for today..." the old man managed to say before collapsing.

At that moment, the ANBU who had left appeared, a medic at his side. The medic immediately rushed towards the Sandaine, hands glowing green.

"Sandaime-sama is fine. He's just unconscious from all of the energy he used to fight," the medic reported.

The ANBU captain nodded and commanded, "You two! Bring him somewhere safe!"

The two ANBU members nodded and left with the Sandaime in tow.

"What a day..." the captain sighed.

-

A/N: The Infernal jutsu, in case you didn't realize came from...yes! Warcraft! Those things kick ass! Thanks to Xynth for the idea and the help!


	11. Chapter 11: Testing

Chapter 11: Testing

The invasion was over. Konoha still stood, damaged, but proud.

Konoha suffered minimal losses. Only a few dozen dead men and women, compared to the hundreds of Oto and Iwa nin that lay scattered inside Konoha.

Now, the hardest part was the clean up. Buildings were damaged, roads were destroyed, and bodies lay everywhere.

With Sarutobi incapacitated for the moment, his old teammates, Koharu and Homura, took command of the reconstruction efforts.

Genin and civilians were assigned to move the debris from fallen buildings off of roads so that others could begin rebuilding the vital streets. Chuunin were assigned to gather up the dead bodies, loot them for supplies, and then check for bounties (as the money would be vital for reconstruction). Following that, the bodies were then to be burned by simple uses of various Katon jutsu that Konoha was known for. On the other hand, jounin and ANBU members were stressed to their limits as they were sent out on unending high ranked missions, to show to other countries that despite this major invasion of two villages, they could still stay strong.

Of course, other things happened during that time.

Like, for example, the promotion of several Konoha genin to chuunin.

"Congratulations. Uzumaki-san. Hyuuga-san. You two, due to your efforts with the invasion, have been promoted to the status of chuunin. Take these vests now, and bring glory to Konoha!" Homura told the two new chuunin.

With a glance, the two then bowed, showing their thanks, before departing from the office of the step-in Hokages.

As soon as they left, an ANBU member appeared in front of Koharu and Homura.

"Koharu-sama. Homura-sama. May I speak freely?"

The two elderly councilors nodded.

"I would suggest enlisting them in the ANBU program. The boy was able to take on three jounin, killing two of them before I managed to eliminate the third. The girl, I heard from several of my comrades, could fight well above the level of chuunin, but her talents were redirected towards helping with the evacuation, so they were unable to catch a full glimpse of her prowess. With those two in the ANBU, I'm sure they can rise much farther than ever."

Koharu glanced at her teammate. "What do you think, Homura?" she asked.

"Hmm...I think it would be a good idea. Their talents are being underemployed as a chuunin. I'm sure their talents could be properly used if they were to join the program...And I know that Hiruzen has a soft spot for the boy. If they are to ever join the ANBU, now would be the time before Hiruzen returns to his position, or else he would not allow those two children to join..."

"But we must also think about the consequence. What if they were to turn out like Itachi?" Koharu responded.

"They won't," he answered confidently. "Itachi was sent into the program too early. The horrors he witnessed must have affected him deeply. These two have already experienced killing and have passed tests by our psychologists! Not only that, but they aren't loners like Itachi was. I did a little research on them, and I've found that neither the boy nor the girl are friendless. Granted, they aren't exactly...popular with others, but they do have friends. Or at least, the boy has other friends while the girl has just him."

The elderly woman sighed. "Alright." Turning back to the ANBU standing at attention, she told him, "Get the two and bring them back here."

The man nodded once before leaving.

-

It had only been five minutes since Naruto and Hanabi left the tower when a man with an eagle mask appeared in front of them.

"Homura-sama and Koharu-sama wish to speak to you again," he told the two.

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Again?"

The man nodded.

Shrugging, Naruto and Hanabi returned with the man to the Hokage tower.

Entering the office, Eagle closed the door behind them and put up a silencing seal before disappearing from sight.

"My colleague and I were discussing your futures," Homura started, "when we came to the conclusion that you two could be better fit somewhere else. How would you like to join the ANBU program?"

Naruto was shocked. Promoted to chuunin, that was something he could've expected. Promoted to ANBU? That was a bit far off...

Hanabi too, was also shocked. She knew she was an excellent kunoichi, but she didn't think she was already at the level of ANBU.

"Don't let that go to your heads," Koharu warned. "The ANBU program you're joining is a like a junior program. You will be assigned a mentor or mentors, who will train you in the ANBU ways. When they deem you ready, you will become a full fledged ANBU member, with your own specialized masks and your own ninjato. It is similar to the genin system, where a team of genin is assigned to a jounin instructor."

"Now, Eagle will take you to get acquainted with headquarters and your duties. You will be excused from any reconstruction efforts, so try not to get yourself roped into doing them anyway. Once you are doing getting acquainted, your training will begin immediately," Homura stated. Waving his hand, Eagle appeared at their side. "Go now."

Eagle bowed, and beckoned the two new junior ANBU members.

-

Leaving the office, Eagle continued down the hall, moving past the stairs that would've led them to the floor below.

Despite seeing that Eagle was walking into a dead end, neither Naruto nor Hanabi said a word. It was just better to say nothing and follow your leader than question him and lose respect.

The ANBU member went right up to the wall, and the two newly promoted children expected him to hit it, but instead, the man went right through it. Following him, they passed through the fake wall, feeling signs of a discreet genjutsu.

Hanabi, with her Byakugan on, looked at the wall, fully expecting to easily unravel the genjutsu, but she saw nothing. She asked, "How is it that my Byakugan does not see the chakra in the genjutsu on the wall?"

"Seals," Eagle replied curtly.

Moving a little bit more forwards, he then stepped onto a platform, followed by the two children, and pressed a button.

The platform began to fall. It moved quickly, but not enough to be dangerous. Within twenty to thirty seconds, the platform stopped, and Eagle walked off. With a glance, the two ANBU guards that stood in front of a pair of metallic doors stepped aside, allowing the trio to pass. The door opened, and they stepped through.

"This is the ANBU headquarters," Eagle told them. "The armory is over there, dormitories over there, training room down that hall, and the ANBU interrogation chambers over there," he pointed out. Continuing, he said, "Those rooms over there are for each squad. Squad 1 has the room labeled '1', Squad 2 has the room labeled '2', and onwards. Members are placed in a squad based on their skill in a particular field, so Squad 1 members consist of the most talented members in taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, assassination, stealth, information gathering, etc, while Squad 10 consists of the weaker members. But make no mistake, even the weaker members of the ANBU are stronger than most jounin. When you are all outfitted and prepared, you'll be given a few tests to let us know where exactly you stand in terms of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, so that we can classify you accordingly. Now, any questions?"

"Are we expected to sleep here?" Naruto asked.

"No. The dormitories are here for members without families, or for those who come back from missions too tired to return to their own homes. Basically, you can come in and use the beds here whenever you want."

"Can you explain the deal about the masks?" Hanabi spoke up.

"All ANBU members receive masks, and are required to wear them during a mission or when they're on duty, at all times. Junior members, like you two, will get blank masks that denote your status. Once you become a fully fledged member, you can pick or make your own mask to wear. Not wearing a mask while on duty will result in a severe punishment and possible ejection from the ANBU. However, when you're here at headquarters, you are free to wear or not wear your mask. But you must remember, revealing things that you learn here to non-ANBU will, at best, get you memory wiped and ejected from the program, and at worst, get you and whoever you told executed."

Naruto and Hanabi nodded at the seriousness of that last statement.

"Now, is that it? Nothing? Alright. Now, it's time for you to get your basic equipment." Eagle went up to the armory, and pushed the metal doors open, revealing rows upon rows of weapons.

Seeing their questioning glances, Eagle responded, "We buy bulk amounts of weapons from the local blacksmiths and keep them here. All ANBU personnel receive a standard ninjato, a mask, and black form-fitting clothes that help on all kinds of missions. There are also various kinds of swords, axes, clubs, poles, spears, poisons, throwing weapons, knuckles, exploding seals, soldier pills, and just about anything you might want or need to bring with you on a mission. During training, you guys will experiment with some of this stuff, unless you already know what you're good with. Now, follow me while I get your things."

Walking down one of the aisles, Eagle grabbed two blank masks and threw them over his shoulder to his trainees. Moving to the next aisle, he took a glance at Naruto's body and grabbed an outfit.

"Here, put this on. Dressing room is off to the side," he commanded.

He then glanced at Hanabi, also grabbing a smaller outfit. "And you try this one."

When they came back dressed in their uniforms, he informed them, "These will be your standard on-duty uniforms. If they get damaged, you are welcome to come back here and get replacements. When you have a mission, you can come here to stock up on anything you need, including the basic kunai and shuriken, easily carried rations, exploding seals, detection seals, soldier and blood pills, or whatever," he ended flippantly.

"Alright. You guys are done with getting outfitted, so now we need to give you code names. You two will be known as...you know what? Just tell me the first letter of your last name."

"U."

"H."

"Alright, so you," Eagle said, pointing at Naruto, "will be codenamed Yuu." Pointing at Hanabi, he continued, "And you will be known as H. When you guys become real ANBU, you'll get your own original codename, which usually ends up matching your mask. Now with that done, we will begin with your ANBU testing," Eagle informed them.

Walking over, he knocked on one of the doors that he had not named, before he looked back over his shoulder. "I forgot to mention, but there are also some ANBU who don't get sent out on any missions at all. Instead, they have jobs as researchers, inventors (who invent new jutsus, seals, or other technology), and medics. Of course, every single one of them are excellent shinobi..."

The door opened, and someone with a bear mask peeked their head out.

"We have two new members who need their taijutsu tested, Bear. This is Yuu and H."

"Hai, Eagle."

Bear exited the room, calling out to the people in the room behind him, "Two newbies, gotta test them. You guys wanna come?"

A chorus of acknowledgments sounded, and three other ANBU members came out of the room.

"What was in that room?" Naruto asked.

Eagle responded, "Break room."

"So, you two are the newbies? Hey H, you're awfully...short, aren't you?" Bear asked casually as the walked down a hallway.

Hanabi, hearing that, immediately stopped, turned around, and kicked the much larger man as hard as she could in the shin. Satisfied with her revenge, she spun back around and continued to walk, ignoring the laughs coming from Bear's teammates. A Jyuuken strike would've been much more satisfying, but she didn't want to give away her identity as a Hyuuga so easily. Besides, since they were about to get their taijutsu tested, it would be a smarter idea to display her status as a Hyuuga then.

Upon reaching the entrance to the training room, Eagle opened the door and stepped through, followed by Naruto, Hanabi, Bear, and Bear's teammates.

Eagle and Bear's teammates then went over to a booth in a corner of the room, where a barrier seal protected them from being hit by any stray techniques or weapons during the testing.

"So," Bear started off, stretching his legs and arms. "How shall we do this? Both of you against me, or one on one?"

Immediately upon asking that question, he was assaulted by ultra quick punches and kicks from both Naruto and Hanabi. Their teamwork, which happened to be excellent, was timed extremely well and gave Bear a hard time defending.

Grunting from a kick to his chest, Bear then decided to forgo his defense in favor of offense. When the blond boy approached Bear with a punch, Bear didn't put up a guard. He took it straight in the face, and quickly responded with a backhanded fist to Naruto's stomach, sending the smaller boy flying off to the side. The punch had hurt, no doubt, but pain could easily be shrugged off.

When Hanabi waited for Naruto to get back up before continuing to attack, Bear commented, "Well, you guys definitely have teamwork down. If I wasn't so good at taking punches, I wouldn't have been able to counterattack at all! Very nice, indeed!"

Taking the compliments in stride, Naruto said aloud, "Let's take this to the next level." His gloves immediately morphed into its gauntlet form, and the claws slid out.

Hanabi, following Naruto's command, shifted her stance into her advanced Jyuuken style.

"Oho! A Hyuuga! That's a surprise! But what's this? Your stance...it's not like any other Jyuuken stance I've seen before," Bear commented. "And Yuu, those claws look a bit sharp. You sure they aren't too big for you, kitty?" he asked with a playful purr.

Ignoring the taunt, Naruto started first, slashing at Bear with his sharp claws.

Blocking the blows with his armguard, he then twisted aside, dodging Hanabi's Jyuuken strike.

Weaving in and out of the attacks, Bear quickly stepped into Naruto's guard and tried to sledgehammer him aside with his fists. Naruto threw both arms up to block, but he was still sent flying a few yards away. Rolling the moment he hit the ground, Naruto used the momentum of his roll to push off the wall and speed back towards Bear twice as fast.

Bear, ignoring Hanabi in favor of the seemingly more dangerous opponent at the moment, took Naruto's kick to the chest and responded by grabbing his leg and throwing him in Hanabi's direction. With a quick Kage Bunshin and Henge, Hanabi made a clone and transformed it into a giant trampoline lying vertically, so that Naruto could bounce off of it. Naruto hit the trampoline with so much force that he actually sunk into it for a few seconds before being shot back at Bear at an incredible speed, even quicker than when he had used the wall.

With such speed, the power he hit Bear with increased tenfold.

Bear, who as his name suggested, was a bear of a man, and thus, even with the shoulder charge from a flying Naruto, the large ANBU just grunted and was pushed back several yards, with Naruto caught in a _bear _hug.

Hanabi, at that moment rushed in with her clone, who had dispelled the Henge. When Bear spotted this, he threw Naruto, again, at Hanabi, although he did not know if it was the real one or the clone. The blond merely smashed into one of the two Hanabi's, causing her to dispel.

So that meant the one who was still charging was the real one! Crouched to get ready to deflect her Jyuuken strikes, he was then surprised when she lashed out with her foot, as the Jyuuken style was meant to be used with the hands.

The kick, not a normal one in the least, connected with a tenketsu in Bear's stomach, causing him to bend over immediately and hack. When he brought his eyes up, all he saw was the sharp claws that belonged to Naruto.

Jeers were suddenly heard from the corner, where the ANBU spectators emerged from the booth.

"Haha, they kicked your ass, man!"

"You got your ass beat by two midgets!"

"Shut up, fool!" Bear responded, playfully pushing his teammates aside.

"Bear, report," Eagle commanded.

Sobering up, Bear stood at attention and did as told. "Their teamwork, as I said before, is superb. I'd recommend for them to be put in the same squad."

Eagle nodded, and said, "I'll be sure to take note of that."

Continuing, Bear reported, "Yuu has a nice strong taijutsu style, and when combined with those claws of his, his taijutsu could be on par with someone on Squad 4 or 5."

"Continue."

"The Hyuuga, H, has a complimenting non-Jyuuken style that fits with Yuu's style, which is why they make such a good team. H's Jyuuken, though, is totally different from the normal Jyuuken style I've seen. She not only uses her hands to deliver Jyuuken strikes, but she uses her feet as well, so any opponent who knows about the Hyuuga will be totally caught off guard when she fights. Of course, if her surprise kick somehow does not totally incapacitate her enemy, then she might be more easily defeated."

"Very well," Eagle acknowledged. "Dismissed."

Bear nodded and left with his teammates, who were still making fun of him for having lost.

Turning to face the new junior ANBU, Eagle told them to wait here before he left the room.

When he returned five minutes later, he was accompanied by two people.

"Yuu and H, this is Chameleon and Rabbit," Eagle introduced.

"Hi guys! Call me Cham!" Chameleon chirped brightly.

"Yo, I'm Rabbit," the thin and wiry man grunted.

"We'll start off with your genjutsu test, so, if you will, Cham. Don't forget, genjutsu only."

The moment Rabbit and Eagle entered the booth, Cham created three genjutsu simultaneously. There was one to hide her from sight, one to deafen them, and one to erase their sense of smell. Unfortunately for her, Eagle had not told her that one of the two she would be testing was a Hyuuga.

Both Hanabi and Naruto flared their chakra for a brief moment, breaking the grip the genjutsu had over their minds.

"Not bad," she complimented, still unaware of the fact that Hanabi was a Hyuuga. "Now try this." She created several more genjutsu, each designed to inflict mental pain, but again, they were shrugged off.

Counterattacking, Naruto created a genjutsu that made Cham think her arms were on fire, but since she was the genjutsu expert in ANBU, she broke it quickly.

Hanabi stood next to Naruto, idle, as she was not too good at making genjutsu than she was at breaking.

Cham made a few seals, before she disappeared once more from sight.

Unluckily for her, Naruto recognized it, as it was Kurenai's favorite.

"Magen: Jubaku Satsu (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death)!"

Without a pause, the blond rolled forwards and away from Cham's incoming kunai, spinning around so he could retaliate with his trump genjutsu.

"Magen: Gokusotsu (Demonic Illusion: Hell's Tormenting Devils)."

To Cham, she had suddenly been sucked up by the earth and dropped into the fiery pits of hell, with only the screams of the tortured and the cackles of the devils to accompany her. Sweat started to break out on her forehead, and she was almost tempted to scream. Luckily, she remembered that it was just a genjutsu and bit her lip, so that the pain broke through the intense genjutsu.

"What was that?" she gasped out.

"My favorite genjutsu technique," Naruto replied with an unseen smirk. "It shows the victim a hell that the user can create."

"Cham, report," Eagle commanded from the booth.

Taking a deep breath, she reported, "Both of them have excellent genjutsu detection and dispelling skills. Yuu has excellent control over his genjutsu, and his last one was very powerful and convincing. H, however, seems to be the exact opposite, as she didn't seem to be any use at creating the illusions."

"I'm a Hyuuga. We break genjutsu, not create them," Hanabi replied in response to the indirect slight against her talents.

"Very well. Now, Rabbit, it's your turn," Eagle said. To the two kids, "Rabbit will test your ninjutsu in battle. Remember, you can only use ninjutsu."

Cham quickly hobbled over to the protected booth, asking Eagle if she could stay to watch. When he nodded she sat down with a great sigh.

"...So. Show me what you got," Rabbit said lazily.

"You're not going to fight back?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nah, I don't really feel like it. Besides, I just have to make sure that you guys are good at ninjutsu," he replied with a great yawn.

Shrugging, Naruto started off with a regular fireball.

Rabbit batted it aside without even flinching. "Gotta do better than that," he drawled.

Unexpectedly, the blond's next jutsu was a large roaring dragon.

"Whoa!" the ANBU shouted. He quickly countered the giant dragon with a wall made of earth.

Hanabi then ran up to the ANBU and grabbed him around the waist.

He almost seemed to sweatdrop, saying, "Err...I'm not a pedo-"

His sentence was cut off when she exploded, blowing him backwards into the wall.

"Bunshin Daibakuha," Hanabi muttered from next to Naruto.

"Oww!" Rabbit's voice rose out from the smoke. "My head..."

Bear stepped out of the booth, followed by Cham, and sighed. Rabbit was a good soldier when necessary, but any other time, and he was as useful as a genin in a kage-level fight.

"I can see that you both have advanced jutsus mastered, so I'll just say you passed. However, now we will combine all three elements into a normal shinobi spar. Come at me and show me what you got."

Cham, quickly dragging the moaning Rabbit back to the booth, hurriedly dropped him on the floor, anxious to watch the fight start.

Dashing forwards, Hanabi went in with taijutsu while Naruto hung back to back her up with ninjutsu and genjutsu techniques.

Seeing as how he already saw her spar with Bear, he was thus prepared when Hanabi struck at him with a Jyuuken kick. He pushed her shin away as she neared him, but then jumped as fireballs were spat at him. Flipping over Hanabi, he landed and immediately tried to leg sweep her, but the young Hyuuga ignored Eagle's offending leg in favor of trying to seal off his tenketsu points as a small earth wall rose out of the ground, courtesy of Naruto. Eagle saw the wall, and cursed, knowing that he didn't have the momentum to stop his sweep, so his leg smashed into the wall, causing him some amount of pain in his lower right leg.

Backflipping away, Eagle had no time for a respite as Naruto slapped his hands together, made a few handseals, and pressed them to the earth. From the ground erupted several large spikes, all intent on impaling the older man.

The technique itself was not too advanced of a move, as it was one of the most common Doton jutsus out there, frequently used by Iwa shinobi. Despite being a low-ranked move, with large chakra reserves and a high amount of skill, this basic Doton jutsu could be turned very lethal.

In a flash, Eagle unsheathed his ninjato and sliced through the spikes, rendering them harmless. It didn't matter though, as Hanabi then leapt onto the decapitated spikes and launched a hail of throwing projectiles at the masked man, forcing him to deflect them with the blade of his weapon.

With a somersault, Hanabi landed in front of Eagle and sent a combined mule kick and Jyuuken kick at the man, but the eagle-masked man merely stepped to the side, grabbing the pale Hyuuga's ankle and putting her in an ankle lock.

Hanabi yelled in surprise and pain, before the pressure on her leg was let off, thanks to her teammate's sudden appearance behind her attacker. Stabbing at Eagle with his claws, he wasn't too surprised when the man flickered away across the room, standing in a relaxed stance and watching the two carefully.

"...Not bad," he relented. "But not good enough."

Eagle suddenly disappeared, and in a second, Naruto felt a fist being buried in his stomach, sending him flying backwards. He hit the wall with a large boom, and Cham in the booth could hear horrendous cracks. Whether the cracks were of the wall breaking or the boy's bones breaking, she couldn't be too sure of.

Groaning, Naruto picked himself up and spat the blood that was pooling inside his mouth onto the floor. He wiped the excess blood off onto his arm and glared at Eagle.

"Katon Goukakyuu. Katon: Kasen," Naruto breathed out quickly, forming the necessary handseals to perform both techniques quickly. The newly shaped fire arrow hovered in the air for a split second before Naruto sent it forward, aiming to impale Eagle.

"Suiton: Suijinheki," Eagle countered, making a barrier of water. It was a natural thing to assume that water would win against fire, so Eagle was most surprised when the arrow pierced his wall with a sizzle and sunk right through his shoulder, cauterizing the wound immediately.

At that moment, the remains of his wall collapsed, and Hanabi darted forward, preparing to seal him tenketsus.

"Alright, stop. That's enough," Eagle commanded them, holding onto his injured wound.

Cham left the room immediately, looking for a medic.

"As Bear said, you have amazing teamwork," he grumbled sourly, annoyed at his loss. "It would definitely be a shame to break you to up..." he trailed off as he thought. "Anyway, you two are dismissed for today. Come back tomorrow and you'll receive your squad. However, you'll still be considered juniors when compared to your teammates. You'll probably be taking orders from the until you prove yourselves to them. Now, dismissed!"

The two nodded and departed immediately.

A minute later, the medic came hurrying back into the room, followed by Cham.

"Eagle!" the medic cried out, seeing that the man had collapsed against the wall and slid down, clutching at the wound in his shoulder. She quickly rushed over, and her hands began to glow green.

"Damn, those new kids are good," Eagle muttered. "That Katon arrow jutsu he used was something I've never seen before...Sure as hell surprised me when it pierced my shield."

"Yes, I can see that, Eagle. Your wound is completely cauterized!...Wait! Are you saying that a new recruit defeated you? " the medic asked incredulously.

Eagle seemed to pout under his mask, before he replied, "It was the _two _new recruits...and you better not say anything, Slug. I'm serious..."

Slug nodded her head, holding back the giggle that was threatening to escape.

"Same goes for you, Cham!" Eagle snapped at the other ANBU member, who was also giggling.

"Yeah, yeah, got it Eagle."

"I'm serious! Or else I'll give you D ranked missions for the next year! Both of you!"

Cham gulped and immediately nodded fearfully. "Yes sir!"

-

A/N: I don't remember what mask any of the ANBU or ex-ANBU wore (except for Kakashi), so if a mask belonging to a canon char is used, don't assume it's the same person.

**Original Techniques:  
**Magen: Gokusotsu - Demonic Illusion: Hell's Tormenting Devils  
Shows the victim what it would be like to suffer at the hands of the devils of hell.


	12. Chapter 12: Fast Forward

Chapter 12: Fast Forward

"We've received reports that a large force of bandits and missing nin have amassed at the castle at Tanzaku Gai under the rule of some rich tyrant. Normally, regular jounin would take the mission, but this tyrant has already struck at several minor towns nearby. You are to sneak into the castle and find information about any future plans on the group. Eliminate anyone who spots you. As soon as you have found the information, return here to report," Eagle told his new subordinates. "Yuu, you will be the team leader on this mission. The two of you have two hours to prepare, and then you leave immediately. Expected duration of mission is approximately one week. Good luck, and may the will of the fire be with you!"

Naruto and Hanabi saluted at the elder ANBU and departed, leaving the man alone to his thoughts.

It had been a month since Yuu and H joined the ANBU corps, and this was their first mission alone. Every other mission they were accompanied by a squad of at least three other people. With this mission, Eagle and his superiors would see if Naruto and Hanabi were truly worthy of becoming fully fledged members of the ANBU.

-

Arriving upon the armory, the two teammates quickly entered. With an ease of practiced motion, they glided through the aisles, plucking supplies out for their week-long mission. After gathering what they thought they needed, Naruto sealed everything into his glove.

Glancing at Hanabi, he spoke. "Let's go. If we pace ourselves, we can make it to the castle in a day."

"And since when have we ever decided to pace ourselves?" Hanabi retorted

"Exactly. That's why we'll be getting there in an hour," Naruto replied calmly.

Smirking, the two of them took the lift out of the hidden ANBU base and jumped out of the Hokage Tower. Sprinting along the rooftops, they quickly bypassed the chuunin guards doing guard duty, receiving a nod of respect when the chuunin saw their ANBU masks.

Speaking of ANBU masks, they still had not received their customized masks. They were told that after their first true mission, they would graduate from the junior ANBU program and become full fledged members. At that moment, they would get their masks. But not a moment sooner.

Speeding through the vast forests of Konoha, everything seemed to blur by as their feet barely touched down on the thick branches. It wasn't long before the supposedly day-long trip ended.

From the leafy branches of a particularly large tree, they could see large numbers of bandits in camps scattered around the castle, and among them were a smaller (yet still large) number of missing nin. Occasionally, loud shouts and yells of drunken bandits could be heard, showing that they would be no big threat. The counterparts, the missing nin, were just as loud and noisy, making their own party.

"So how do you want to do this?" Naruto asked.

"You're team leader," Hanabi shrugged. "And I have sworn my loyalty to you. I will follow you one hundred percent," she stated factually.

"Alright, then follow me."

Up on the ramparts, two of the bandits were watching over the area, looking (at least, they were _supposed _to be looking) for intruders.

"Ugh, damn man, when are we getting replaced? I wanna join the party too," one man complained to his partner.

"Chill man, chill. I think we have another fifteen minutes before the next two are coming up."

Grumbling, the first man slowly quieted down, before he piped up again. "Is it time yet?"

'_Yes, it's time..._' Naruto thought as he silently dragged a kunai over the man's throat, his left hand quickly covering the mouth. When the man stopped struggling, Naruto quietly placed the body next to his companion, who had been silenced first. After placing the two together, he used a simple Henge to make them look like rocks, and then placed them in a corner, hidden by shadows. The two dead bodies wouldn't be found until a week later, when the overpowered Henge wore off and the smell rotting flesh attracted a guard.

Moving onwards, the two slowly jumped down to the other side, using the shadows as cover. Slinking from one shadow to another, they stealthily made their way to the back of the castle, where there were less people to see them. Standing at the base of the wall, Naruto cupped his hands and beckoned Hanabi to jump, so that he could throw her up and give her a "running start", so to speak.

Quickly doing as suggested, she quickly climbed up fifteen or twenty yards into an open window, having used chakra to stick to the walls after the first four or five yards. Following her up, Naruto used his much larger chakra capacity to climb up the stone walls to the window where his teammate waited for him.

When Naruto finally made it up, he took a cursory glance around the room, seeing that it was pretty spacious, but also empty.

Making a clone and using a Henge so that it looked like a small twig, Naruto opened the door and let his clone sneak out, scouting out the area.

However, a problem came from this.

You see, the basic Henge technique is just a simple genjutsu that fooled the mind of the viewers so that the target of the Henge looked like something else. It did not actually change the user into that object, simply because that defies all logic, common sense, and all things natural. Therefore, a Henge was easily dispelled just by being touched.

The illusion covered the clone up, but since it was targeted at the clone, if the clone moved, so would the stick, to anyone that saw it.

Therefore, when two men came walking down the hall and saw a slowly wiggling stick, both rubbed their eyes and were about to call out to their comrades. The clone couldn't let that happen, so it had to hastily pull out two projectiles and throw them in less than a second. Luckily, his throwing skills were not dull whatsoever, and the shuriken he had taken out had embedded themselves in the throats of the two men. Unfortunately for the clone, it was not fast enough to catch the bodies, so when they hit the ground, there was an audible thump.

"Kira? Hideki?" a man asked as he approached. The clone, not having enough time to dispose of the two cooling corpses, had no choice but to eliminate this third man.

The moment the newcomer turned into the hallway, the clone stabbed him in the heart, silencing the man from calling out.

Once the man was dead, the clone looked around, and not knowing what to do next, dispelled itself, giving the memories of what just transpired to the original.

Moving quickly, Naruto snuck out of the room, followed by Hanabi, and created another Kage Bunshin. With a simple command, the three dragged the corpses back into the room, where they hopefully wouldn't be found for some time. Finishing that, the clone dispelled, and the two remaining continued on.

Using hand signs, Naruto flashed to Hanabi, _Should we try to find where the boss' office is ourselves or capture one of these pieces of scum and interrogate 'em?_

_Interrogate one of them_, she returned.

Nodding, Naruto crept forwards and peeked around the corner, looking to see if anyone was approaching. Seeing nothing, he beckoned Hanabi to show that the coast was clear, and moved on. Finding a magnificent staircase that lead both up and down, the two quickly chose to head upstairs, as logically, the office of the boss always tended to be at the top.

On the way up towards the stairs, they were met by a lone bandit with an eyepatch covering his left eye. He stopped, staring in surprise at the two figures wearing all black and blank white masks covering their faces. His mouth opened, and he prepared to shout, but one of the two figures in front of him suddenly disappeared. The next thing he knew, the floor was rushing up to meet him, and his vision started to fade black.

-

Juuhei Ida was a man without morals. He pillaged, raped, and murdered all kinds of people, young and old, men and women (he didn't rape men though, as that just wasn't his thing), and people of various descent. However, during one of his last raids into a nearby Fire village, a lucky civilian managed to stab him in the eye. Of course, in a fit of anger, he slapped her so hard that several teeth were ripped out, and then proceeded to rape her in front of her five year old daughter. He thought about raping the daughter in front of the mother, but she was a bit _too _young...

So now, Ida snapped back to consciousness when a fist smashed into his face. Looking around dazedly, he noticed the two masked figures and suddenly, memories of his last few moments before losing consciousness returned to him.

"Wh-"

Ida was cut off by another fist to the same cheek.

"You talk when we say you talk. Understand?" the figure in front of him asked.

Nodding fearfully, Ida quickly stole a glance to the room, and realized that this was a fellow bandit's room. He absently recalled that the man's name was Kira. Ah, and there he was, a shuriken lodged in his throat, lying in a corner of the room, with two other people.

"Who is your boss, and where is his office?"

"All I know about the boss is that his name is Gato!"

Naruto sucked in a breath of surprise and glanced at Hanabi.

"Where is his office?" Naruto asked again.

"T-top floor! Please, don't kill me!" the man begged.

"Thank you for the information."

Getting up, the two walked towards the door. Ida, seeing that they were leaving, started to cry tears of relief.

"T-thank you for spari-"

His thanks were cut off by a kunai that happened to lodge itself in his neck.

"What are the chances of meeting Gato again, huh Hanabi? I honestly thought he would've drowned after the fiasco at Wave."

Hanabi snorted, before replying, "I guess Gato must be a cockroach, right? He just won't die..."

-

"...The mission was a success, Hokage-sama. We acquired the information required, and we learned something very interesting about the identity of the boss."

"Yes, Yuu?" Sarutobi asked.

"It was Gato, the ex-tyrant of Wave."

"Hmmm," the old man sighed, rubbing his beard while he smoked his pipe. "If I recall correctly, the reports said that Gato was killed, did it not?"

"Yes that is correct," Hanabi spoke up.

"So why then, do I find out now that some supposedly dead tyrant has come to our country to terrorize our people?"

"It's my fault, Hokage-sama. I put a genjutsu on him, which eventually led to him falling into the river below. When he didn't resurface after five minutes, I assumed that he was dead."

"Yes, I see," the Sandaime mumbled, clearly thinking about what to do next. "You're dismissed," he said, waving a hand at the two junior ANBU.

-

News had reached Kumo of their genin team's failure.

The only one to take it hard was the single dead Kumo genin's older sister and heir of the clan, Nii Yugito.

Locked up in her room, Yugito stared blankly at the ceiling for several days after receiving the news. It was just too hard for her to comprehend that her dear little sister, only six years younger than her, had died due to some invasion that had nothing to do with their country.

Eventually, her well of tears dried up, and only determination and the desire for vengeance remained. She refused to believe that her dear sister Madoka, who she had secretly trained, could have been killed so easily by a stray exploding seal. To find out the truth, she gave herself two goals. The first was to find out the truth; was Madoka truly dead, or was it just a mistake (and if it was a mistake, a third goal would be to reunite herself with her sister)? The second goal was to reenact retribution against Iwa.

However, she was, on the outside, just a normal jounin of Kumo. A lone jounin, no matter how hard she trained, would never be able to take down a whole shinobi village. Luckily for her, she had a deep and dark secret, one she had revealed to no one, not even her dearest sister. She had the Nibi no Nekomata sealed within her. If she could master the powers given to her by the Nibi, she would become strong enough to wipe out Iwa and get her revenge!

-

Three years had passed. Three long years.

During that time, Naruto and Hanabi had both grown, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

Naruto grew quite a bit, making an average five foot eight. He wasn't by any means tall, but he was no longer a midget. Hanabi, on the other hand, also grew a lot, but she was still really short. Compared to Naruto at least. She was now at a below average height of five foot three. Of course, she was only eleven (almost twelve), so she still had some time to grow, but she wasn't too optimistic about it. Her mother and sister were both pretty short people, so it was expected that she would be too. Also, their clothes had not changed at all. They were too accustomed to wearing ANBU clothes that anything else would be uncomfortable at best. Luckily for them, they had unlimited access to an unlimited amount of the same outfits. Their masks, which they had received after their mission at Tanzaku Gai, were very special to them. Naruto made himself a phoenix mask, since the phoenix was a creature of fire, just like he was. Hanabi had chosen the weasel for reasons unknown to both herself and Naruto. Many people had flinched when they saw it, and Hanabi had found that the reason for the flinching was due to the fact that Uchiha Itachi once wore this mask...

Mentally, the current fifteen year old and almost-twelve year old were considered to be beyond adults. Cruel and malicious acts no longer caused them to feel anything anymore, like it once did. Being in ANBU, it was expected for this to happen, since seeing such foul acts were commonplace to ANBU. At the beginning, even with their experience in killing, they had not been prepared to witness the brutal torture that some degenerate people fancied. The two had seen women with missing and damaged sexual organs (breasts, nipples, clitoris, etc), men with chunks missing from their penis, or other such vulgarities. Yes, they had participated in torture sessions, but never something to this degree! Due to all of those scenes of torture, they had basically been desensitized.

Emotionally, they retreated into their shells, talking less and less with people outside of their "clique", which only included Naruto, Hanabi, Hana, Anko, and Kurenai (the latter two having been introduced to Hanabi after the first few months of becoming full fledged ANBU). Their rationalization (Hanabi and Naruto's rationalization, that is) was that they didn't want bonds to form between them and their comrades. Although they were cold and uncaring towards other ANBU, Naruto and Hanabi's relationship was far more different. They had evolved from friends to best friends. To Naruto, Hanabi was the only one he would ever trust with his life. Not even the relationship he had with Anko, Kurenai, or Hana were enough to compare with the one he had with the young Hyuuga.

Madoka, having nothing to do but train, quickly mastered everything that Naruto had given her. The Katon scroll, Fuuton scroll, the genjutsu scroll, and even the Doton and Suiton scrolls...Everything was devoured by Madoka. Having dedicated herself to her savior, who had kept her from falling into a horrible fate, she promised herself that she would become strong enough to be worthy of serving him.

Naruto, pitying the girl who was stuck training for three whole years, visited her every two or three days, as he promised. On some days, he would test her to see how far she had come in mastering what she had been given. Other days, he brought over Hanabi, who quickly became friends with her too. Naruto guessed it was all due to the doomed-to-a-horrible-fate thing that they shared. With Hanabi and his presence, things were looking up for her.

Den and Kouzo, although still swearing to work under Hanabi, found themselves doing great things with a construction company. With their height and muscles, they could accomplish two or three times the work a normal construction worker could do. Naruto had asked Hanabi if she was going to invite the brothers to leave with them, but she shook her head. They were doing pretty good here and were making an honest living now. There was no need to disrupt their new easygoing lifestyle.

During the past three years, Naruto met up with his two sealed sleepers once per year. Sending instructions through their seals, he instructed them to meet up with him at a certain location, hidden from prying eyes. There they regained their memories of swearing their allegiances to him and reported to him anything of interest. From Shiso, he learned that Kiri's civil war was dying down. The sentiments for the war were still strong, but since they had wiped out so many bloodlines already, there weren't many left to eradicate. Yuki, representing her family, gave him nothing truly noteworthy, just regular specks of unimportant information. While none of this actually affected him anyway, Naruto continued to collect reports about whichever countries he could get information from without being caught. After all, wasn't knowledge power?

Currently, Naruto and Hanabi were in the Hokage's office, awaiting their newest mission.

The older man started off with a deep sigh. "Even with his arm cut off, he is still so persistent..." he mumbled to himself. Continuing in a louder voice, he told the two in front of him, "Iwa has opened its gates to host the Chuunin Exams this year. They specifically invited us as the guests of honor since they claim that they want to 'rebuild' and 'repay' for the heinous crimes committed against us in the exams from three years ago. I wish I could decline, but that would be extremely rude, and the Fire Lord would be ridiculed politically. As a result, we have no choice but to participate. All of this does not change the fact that I am still suspicious of their intentions. Thus, I want you to join as one of the teams."

Sarutobi knew they were surprised, even though they showed no signs of such an expression.

"But won't people wonder why two ANBU members have been demoted to genin?" Hanabi asked.

"They would...if they knew you were promoted to ANBU in the first place," Sarutobi replied slyly. "The only ones who know about your position in the corps are my two advisors Koharu and Homura , Eagle, myself, and anyone you two may have told. Your records have also been sealed, so that no one but me can look it up. If anyone asks why you're still genin when you showed chuunin level skills, you can tell them that you didn't receive your promotion since your exam was never technically finished."

"Hai, Hokage-sama," the two chorused.

"Any questions?"

"Are we going to remain a two man team?" Naruto asked.

"Yes. Adding another member to your team will just make it harder for you to do your mission properly."

"When exactly are the exams to take place?" Hanabi questioned.

"Three months. I must RSVP with the number of teams I'm sending in a week, so I suppose I should call the other jounin senseis."

"Speaking of senseis, Hokage-sama," Naruto started. "Who is to be registered as ours? I'm sure the Iwa nin would suspect something if we registered as a team without a sensei."

"Good point. How about Hana? I know she used to be your sensei, and I'm sure it would be a good time to get yourselves reacquainted with her anyway. It's not like she's been going on any missions lately. She told me that she was going to spend some time as a vet, you know? Now, no more questions?"

"I have one more, sir. Are we to watch over all of the Konoha teams sent there, or just a specific team?" Naruto asked, hinting at favoritism with the Uchiha.

"All of the teams. You forget, Naruto, that the council has been dispelled, so they have no say nor opinion of what you are to do, not that they should've been allowed any say in the first place."

"Yes, sir," Naruto nodded before he and his partner left the Hokage's office.

-

"Back to the Chuunin Exams...Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Naruto asked Hanabi.

"Yes, that it does."

-

A/N: The Henge does not make you transform you into something else. You just look like you're a different object, k? Please get that into your heads, people. I've seen lots of authors misuse this, and it just irks me...

Credit to Xynth for the phoenix mask.


	13. Chapter 13: Exams in Iwa

Chapter 13: Exams in Iwa

The reformed Team SDF walked slowly up the mountainous path.

Hana, stealing a glance towards her old students, decided to start up a conversation. "So you two, how was chuunin duty?"

The Inuzuka woman was never told about Naruto and Hanabi being in the ANBU. The Hokage had deemed that information way too important to be let out at the moment. Instead, she was told that they were promoted to chuunin, but were dropped back to genin so that they could act as guards for the various clan heirs that would be present. She had frowned, initially, when she heard this, but eventually she understood that they were the only two who could possibly do it. Everyone else was either way too old or way too notorious. Luckily, she hadn't any more questions and had faithfully agreed to this mission. After all, her brother would be there too, and it would be a good chance to see how well he did in a real combat situation.

On the other side of Naruto and Hanabi was Nii Madoka. The ex-Kumo genin was introduced to the Hokage a week before they had left. Naruto had convinced the elderly man to let her become a genin of Konoha, because she hated Kumo. The old man, who happened to be very soft-hearted at the sight of the teary girl, agreed immediately. The Sandaime told her that to best avoid any rumors of her getting back to Kumo, she should change her hair (both style and color) and her name. Madoka agreed without hesitation. She was registered as Uzumaki Madoka, older sister of Uzumaki Naruto, and her dirty blond hair was changed to a lighter color, making it look like the two were truly related.

Madoka was introduced to Hana as her third student, since Madoka needed a team, and Team SDF conveniently needed a member. Hana had begrudgingly took her on as a result.

Pretty soon, they came upon the gates of Iwa. Naruto having already been here once, was not as awed as the rest of his team, so he faked it so as to not arouse suspicion.

"It's huge..." Hana trailed off.

"Welcome to Iwa," the two gate guards chorused monotonously. "Passes please."

Hana handed the four passes to the guard who stuck his hand out, and the man quickly took them and scanned it over. When he was satisfied, he handed the passes back to Hana and bid them to enter the city.

"We hope you enjoy your stay," they chorused again.

-

Staring upon the village of Iwa, the blond ex-jounin reminisced about how she had gotten to that point.

After mastering the powers of the Nibi several months ago, Yugito had questioned Madoka's jounin sensei about her death. The sensei had told her that it was only after much thought that she realized that Madoka had supposedly "exploded" long before the exploding note from the Iwa nin had even ignited! This piece of information gave Yugito the courage to drag a kunai across her hitae-ate. After that, the blond woman snuck out of Kumo and slowly made her way southwest through various inhabitable lands towards Konoha, before heading northwest through Taki and into Tsuchi no Kuni. It would've been quicker had she gone just due west, but that would've just placed her first in barren and empty lands and eventually Oto, which was rumored to be extremely dangerous.

She noticed the arrival of three genin and their jounin sensei. Looking at the only boy on the team, she noticed that his headband bore the symbol of Konoha.

'_What's a Konoha team doing here? No, it couldn't be another Chuunin Exam, could it? That would make my work a lot harder..._'

**Just wait for the exams to finish then**, came the voice of the demon inside her.

'_Good idea, Nibi-sama. I'll just do some reconnaissance until then._'

The voice of the Nibi spoke no more, as Yugito leapt down from her hiding spot and knocked out the two chuunin guards with a strong genjutsu. Both would wake up later having no recollection of what had just happened.

-

As the quartet of Konoha nin walk down the streets of Iwa, Naruto noticed that there were a lot of Iwa shinobi on the rooftops.

'_For security purposes, no doubt,_' he thought.

Not paying too much attention to where he was walking, he slightly bumped into a woman.

"Watch where you're going, you damn brat! You're lucky I don't press charges for assaulting a noble," the woman spun around and snarled.

Naruto apologized to the lady and continued onwards with his team, who had stopped to see what the commotion was about.

'_What are the chances of that? Of all the people I could've bumped into, it was Chikara..._'

The group soon made their way to the hotel for all foreign representatives. Checking in, it was decided that since there wasn't enough room for three women in a room, one of them would have to share with Naruto. Madoka volunteered, since she was the blond's "sister".

Once they were settled, they were told that the first exam would start in a week and that they would have that time to train, sightsee, or just relax.

-

"Welcome to all teams gathered here today," the Iwa chuunin announced in a fake cheery voice.

There were somewhere between fifty to sixty teams in attendance, and everyone had been standing around inside the massive stone chamber, awaiting instructions for the first part of the exam.

"Your first exam is to simply get yourselves to the location of the second exam. However, we won't be telling you where it is. Clues have been scattered around the village, and you'll need to find those and decipher them to locate the location. You have one week to both find clues and get yourselves to the destination. Killing other genin candidates in this first exam, injuring or killing any civilians, or damaging civilian buildings will result in an automatic disqualification, and you will be taken prisoner. If you're taken prisoner, your village will have to pay reparations to secure your freedom. No worries, your leaders have already signed up to this, so yes, it is legal. If they decide not to pay reparations for you...well then, I guess you'll be stuck working off whatever debts you may incur. The point of this exam is to test your analytical skills for solving a code, and your information gathering skills for finding hidden objects, secrets, and people. Now, good luck to you all, and may the best teams win!"

The majority of the teams left immediately in search for the clues, but the Iwa genin and the five Konoha teams lagged behind, albeit for different reasons.

"Hey, it's you two again!" Kiba shouted as he pointed a finger at Naruto and Hanabi.

"Yes, it's us. What of it?" Naruto replied.

"Where were you for the past three years? If you're still a genin, we should've seen you around the village _some _time!"

Naruto shrugged, not really interested in replying.

As they talked, the Iwa teams slowly trickled out.

"Yes, I am curious too, as to your whereabouts. Surely we would've seen you around the village over these few years," Shino stated.

"We were busy training," Hanabi answered this time.

"Training? Yeah, like for three whole years without doing anything else?" Kiba snorted disbelievingly.

Naruto again shrugged, before he finally left with Hanabi and Madoka.

Nine pairs of eyes stared intently as he and his team left the chamber.

"We can't let them win! Let's go, you bums!" Ino shouted at an attempt to motivate the lazy Nara and the eternally hungry Akimichi.

"C'mon! We'll be the first ones done, right guys?" Kiba shouted encouragingly as he bounded out the doorway.

The last team, Team 7, slowly made their way out. No member on the team made any shouts of encouragement as they left. The silence was finally broken by the third member of Team 7.

"Sasuke, you have a small penis."

A shrill scream of denial from the only female in the group echoed in the chamber.

-

As the new Team SDF walked through the streets, they were bombarded with shouts of festivity from the civilians. Among them were a group of Iwa nin, putting up a show for the populace. Two men, wearing the garb of a typical shinobi from Iwa, stood behind a third man, who was dressed up elegantly and finely, much like a noble. Across from these three men was a woman, accompanied by two maidens. From the way the man and the woman were moving towards each other, it was obvious to decent nin that these performers were trained professionals.

When the man and woman met, they started up an intricate dance.

Naruto watched carefully, as instincts told him to pay attention. He stared so intently that it took him a while before he realized that he was supposed to listen to the sounds their feet made when tapping the floor in a rhythmic way!

'_Morse code!_'

Unsealing a notepad and pen, he quickly transferred the dots and dashes he heard onto a piece of paper. After the two performers finished dancing, they paused to take a break.

During this time, Naruto tried to decipher the code. What came out was a bunch of gibberish.

He sighed in frustration and got up to leave, when the annoyed and curious faces of Madoka and Hanabi finally got his attention.

"I thought I had the code there," he informed them. "The sounds they made when they tapped their feet sounded a lot like the Morse code, but when I translated it, nothing came of it."

"Well, at least it was a good try," Madoka added uselessly. "Let's move on and see if we can find any other hints," she suggested.

Naruto acquiesced, and took one step away when the performers started up again.

There was a different dance this time. The tapping of the feet attracted Naruto's attention again, and he tried once more to copy and translate the dots and dashes.

"Again?" Madoka asked, slightly exasperated. She was about to continue when Naruto shushed her. She shut up immediately. She was, after all, only a servant to her master.

Naruto stared at the decoded message in his hand for a few seconds. "We got a clue," he stated.

Hanabi and Madoka crowded around him, trying to get a peek at the message.

-

45 genin, all bearing the proud symbol of Iwa, were gathered together in one of the training grounds that only Iwa shinobi knew about.

"The objective for us is to eliminate as many foreign genin as possible. We may not be allowed to kill them yet, but we sure as hell can stall them. Since one of us on each team already know the Dourou Domu (Earth Dome Prison), it will be simple for us to just capture the genin and suck their chakra dry. Remember, do not target your fellow Iwa genin. Understood?"

A round of nods were the reply.

"Alright, let's go out and eliminate the competition!"

-

Ino led the way through the crowds on the street, elbowing past the many civilians there, leaving Choji to apologize for her actions and Shikamaru to mutter "Troublesome."

"Faster, you bums!" she shouted when she noticed that the two were several yards behind her.

"Alright, alright, you troublesome woman!" Shikamaru mumbled.

"What was that?" Ino returned, waving her fist at him.

"...Nothing."

"Goo-" Ino was cut off when three Iwa genin appeared.

One of the genin placed his hands on the ground, shouted something, and Team 10 suddenly found that they were trapped in a sphere of earth.

"What is this?" she cried out.

"It's obvious. They're eliminating the competition," Shikamaru drawled.

"I thought that you couldn't kill the competition," Choji stated, confused.

"You can't. But I don't think these Iwa genin are planning on killing us. They're just making sure we don't succeed, which there isn't a rule about."

"What?! That's not fair!" Ino shouted angrily.

"Don't worry, you troublesome woman. It's not hard to break out of this technique. Choji, punch that side, right over there."

Choji did as asked, and using all his strength, he left a mighty dent. The dent quickly fixed itself.

"You won't be escaping," a muffled voice from Shikamaru's right stated.

"We will now, thanks to you," he replied. "Choji punch that side now," he commanded, pointing to his left.

Again, Choji did as Shikamaru said, and this time, the earth dome fell to pieces.

"You idiot!" a kunoichi yelled angrily at the one who had used the technique. "You gave away our position, and because of that, one of those Konoha genin figured out where to attack!" With a mighty punch, she slammed the boy face down into the dirt.

"Oww..." the boy mumbled, holding his head. "How bothersome."

The third genin on the other team just stood to the side, eating from a bag of chips. He was obviously the powerhouse of the team, given his immense stature and thick bulging arms.

"Hey, fatass, knock them out!" the girl snapped.

The third genin grunted and moved forward, finishing his bag of chips. With a mighty roar, he pulled his fist back and punched towards Shikamaru.

The Nara leapt to the side, just as Choji punched with equal power. Their fists met, and an explosion of force blew back the other four genin.

"Kage Mane no Jutsu," Shikamaru muttered, and his shadow suddenly touched the third genin's own shadow.

"What is this?" the larger boy said in bewilderment, as his body began to move without his permission.

Holding the seal, Shikamaru quickly said, "Choji beat him up real quick. I can't hold on much longer. This guy is strong!"

Nodding, Choji's arm expanded tenfold and began to pound on his opponent.

Of course, the other two Iwa genin weren't going to just let them do that.

"Doton: Doryou Dango!" The only girl on the other team pulled out a giant slab of rock and chucked it at Choji.

Shikamaru cried, "Watch out Choji, to your left!"

The Akimichi stopped his assault and turned his mighty fists towards the flying slab.

With a grunt, he slammed his huge fists into it, breaking off bits and pieces of the rock and sending it scattering everywhere.

A majority of the fragments flew back at the girl, knocking her off her feet and into the dark embrace of unconsciousness, leaving only the two boys left on the Iwa team.

"This is so bothersome," the first Iwa genin said, as he picked himself off his feet and unsheathed a knife.

"Using your knife already?" the third genin said as he himself reached behind his back and revealed two massive axes.

"Yeah, we need to take these guys out already, 'cause if we don't Elisha is going to kick our asses when she wakes up...oh man, this is too bothersome."

The giant Iwa genin nodded in agreement. Elisha was scary when she was angry.

"Doton: Yomi Numa!"

The earth beneath Team 10 suddenly turned into a massive swamp.

The Konoha genin's eyes widened, and Choji was the only one who did not manage to escape.

"Well, at least I managed to trap one," the genin with the axes rumbled. He swung his axes horizontally, aiming to cut the Akimichi in half.

Luckily, Choji was saved from a painful death thanks to Shikamaru's shadow, which managed to take control of the genin's arms. The Nara opened his fist, forcing the other genin to follow suit,and the axes fell into the swamp.

"My axes!"

Then, Shikamaru forced his shadow to connect with Choji and the rest of the genin's body, and the exertion of the technique doubled. Jumping up, he forced Choji to leap out of the swamp, and the Iwa genin in.

With two of the three Iwa genin useless, the one with knife sighed heavily.

"This sucks..."

His grip on the knife suddenly switched from a standard grip to a reverse grip, where the blade was parallel along his forearm. He dashed towards Shikamaru, who he deemed the biggest danger of the group and performed a number of quick slashes and stabs.

Shikamaru, luckily, only suffered several cuts, none too deep, and a small stab wound in his shoulder. He fell back, and Choji fell upon the Iwa genin with his massive fists.

When the other genin jumped backwards to regain his breath, Choji yelled, "Baika no Jutsu!" His entire body inflated, and he leapt up into the air, causing the genin's eyes to follow him.

"Oh shit," he muttered, just about to jump back to avoid the giant Akimichi.

Unfortunately, Ino took that brief moment to take control of his mind with the Shintenshin no Jutsu.

"Hurry up and finish this, Choji!" she yelled from inside the genin.

Just as Choji was about to hit him, Ino released the technique (since she didn't want the pleasure of feeling a giant fall on her), and gave back control to the Iwa genin.

The boy had only a second to stare at the massive ball before he was smashed into the ground.

Choji quickly released the technique, not wanting to kill the other boy.

"Oh, fuck," the Iwa genin muttered. "This hurts..."

As he was unable to do anything anymore for the moment, Shikamaru approached the only conscious enemy genin (the one stuck in the swamps), and beckoned Ino to come over.

"Ino, check his mind. See if his team has figured out the clues yet."

With a wordless seal, she quickly found herself immersed in the genin's mind. She found out that his name was Kuwabara.

Digging a little deeper, she discovered the memory of the meeting that all Iwa genin had a little while back.

Gasping, she returned to her own body.

"We're not the only ones they're targeting! Each Iwa team is going to take out one of the foreign teams!"

"What?!" Shikamaru asked, alarmed.

"Yeah, there's fifteen Iwa teams, and each one has been assigned another team..."

"We should go inform the others."

"Yeah, otherwise, they might be caught off guard!" Choji exclaimed in a worried voice.

"But first," Shikamaru interrupted. "Ino, did you find out any clues?"

"Yeah, they already know the location. I don't know how they figured it out so quick, but they did," she answered with a shrug. "The second exam is supposed to take place at..."

-

Team 8, being a team of information gatherers and trackers, easily found a clue. With the help of Hinata's Byakugan, they found a section of wall in an alley that was covered heavily with genjutsu. It took them close to an hour, but they eventually uncovered the many layers, revealing a gaping hole in the wall. Walking in cautiously, they found a message inscribed on the wall.

"Hah we did it!"

"Doton: Dourou Domu!" a voice from behind them shouted.

Immediately, the ground below them turned against them, encasing them in a solid ball of compact earth.

"W-what the hell is this?" Kiba demanded. "There's no attacking the other genin teams!"

"No," a voice replied dimly from the other side. "The rules stated no killing."

"Wh-" Kiba's outcry was cut off by Shino who placed a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"He's right," the Aburame stated. "The rules were no killing. It never said anything about not attacking another team. It seems that Iwa is still an untrustworthy village," he said, pushing his black shades up with a finger.

That's when they felt the effects of the technique.

"Our chakra!" Kiba shouted in surprise.

Shino collapsed to a knee.

"You guys have no chance now," the Iwa genin on the outside taunted. "This technique absorbs your chakra and gives it to me!"

Using her already-on Byakugan, Hinata noticed that the chakra flowing into the opposite side of the wall was where it was weakest. "Kiba! Attack that side!" she cried, pointing at where the weakness was. "It's the weakest part of the technique!"

He nodded, and used his remaining chakra to smash into the wall. With his brute force and Akamaru's help, the wall quickly fell, causing the technique to fail.

"Damn!" the Iwa genin cursed.

However, any further protest was cut off as Shino's bugs swarmed over him, sucking him dry of the chakra he had just stolen from Team 8. The bloated bugs flew back to Shino and gave him his chakra back.

At that moment, Hinata's Byakugan shut off, due to the lack of chakra. She fell, currently unconscious.

"Take care of her. I will deal with the other two genin," Shino stated.

Kiba nodded worriedly.

Shino raised his arms, and from there, a mass of bugs flew at the remaining two Iwa genin.

"Mushi Dama (Insect Sphere)!" The swarm encompassed the two terrified genin and soon, screams of horror were emitted.

Having bugs cover every inch of your body can do that to you.

The bugs sucked away enough chakra to leave them unconscious, and when they finished, they returned to Shino.

"W-wow," Kiba gasped. "That was a nice one Shino!"

"Thank you," he monotonously replied.

-

Team 7, after leaving the chamber, was quickly stopped by the arrival of a lone Iwa genin. He was then joined by his two teammates.

"You idiot! Why did you jump down? We could've just used the Dourou Domu!" a kunoichi shouted.

"That's no fun," the first boy commented. "It's much more fun to fight them than to just trap them."

"Well, now that you ruined the element of surprise, we have no choice but to do it anyway. Fucking idiot," she muttered the last part.

"Who are you?" Sakura asked. In the three years past, her training had focused on mostly genjutsu, with a sparse amount of taijutsu and ninjutsu. Thus, even as she asked the question, she carefully weaved several layers of genjutsu around each of them.

Unluckily for her, the other team also had a genjutsu specialist.

"Genjutsu! Watch out!" the girl yelled suddenly, and her two teammates quickly dispelled the illusions.

"How rude," the second boy stated. "Attacking us while you ask a question? Hmph."

He placed his hand on the ground and pulled out a stone spear. "You will pay for that."

Springing forward, he swiped at the three Konoha genin, but it was futile, as the three jumped back.

"Katon: Goukakyuu." A wide flame blew out of Sasuke's mouth, spreading out over the area.

"Doton: Doryuu Heki!" The first boy created a wall of mud from his mouth, blocking the flames from hitting him and his teammates. When the wall subsided, the three Iwa nin were gone.

"Below!" Sasuke shouted, just in time as three pairs of hands burst out of the ground. He unleashed several kunai with exploding tags wrapped around it at the ground, blowing up the ground where the hands had appeared.

"You should watch out for collateral damage, Sasuke-kun," the third member of Team 7 stated blandly. "We wouldn't want you to be held for ransom, would we?"

"Shut up Sai!" the Uchiha snapped.

Sai, in response, created a group of tigers and lions out of ink, sending them to attack.

They were easily dispelled by the third genin's spear.

"Yahiko, go!"

The first genin, eager to attack, jumped up and released his strongest technique.

"Doton: Doryuudan!"

The massive earth dragon roared at Team 7, but all three of them smirked.

"Haha, your strongest versus my strongest. I wonder who will win?" Sasuke asked. He formed a few distinctive hand seals, and the sudden chirping of birds was heard by everyone nearby. "CHIDORI!"

He dashed forward, and plunged his lightning-encased hand through the dragon and straight at the genin who used the Doryuudan.

Just as he was about to impale the other boy, Sasuke veered away and plunged his hand into the ground.

"Lightning beats earth," he stated cockily.

The genin fainted. His close call with death had scared him so badly that he even wet his pants.

As this happened, more ink animals appeared and they had snuck up behind the genjutsu specialist. With a roar, they slashed her back, and she fell like her first teammate, unconscious due to the pain.

The remaining opponent growled. With a cry of vengeance, he dashed forward to try to stab Sai, but for some reason, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Sasuke glanced at Sakura.

"I put him under a genjutsu. I thought it would be a good idea, since his teammate isn't here to tell him that he's under one, and it might be possible for him to give us some information. Maybe he'll have some information that could help us."

The boy immediately started to talk.

"You forgot the clue? How foolish, Yahiko." He sighed. "How could you forget? Sensei only told us a little while ago."

The three Konoha genin shared a look. The Iwa team was cheating? Did this apply only to this particular team, or were all of the Iwa teams cheaters?

"The location of the second exam is..."

-

A/N: Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone!


	14. Chapter 14: Reunited

Chapter 14: Reunited

"The location of the second exam is..."

-

"...Wudan Peninsula? I've never heard of the place," Sakura commented as Team 7 slowly walked through the streets towards their hotel. After the third genin had been tricked into telling them the location, Sasuke knocked him out with a chop to the neck and tied all three genin up with ninja wire.

"It doesn't matter," the Uchiha replied. "We'll just go find a map and look it up then. What I want to know is what the kid meant by 'sensei told us'."

"I'm pretty sure it's extremely simple, Sasuke-kun," Sai spoke up brightly. "Their sensei told them the location!"

Sasuke growled, looking at the annoying Sai with a glare. "I know," he bit out. "What I meant was why their sensei told them in the first place."

"Oh! That's simple too! Their sensei told them because he wanted his team to succeed!"

Growling, the raven-haired Uchiha just stopped talking. He just wasn't in the mood to argue with Sai.

-

"Let's celebrate! We got a clue already! Hah! I bet we're the first ones!" Kiba crowed triumphantly.

Shino pushed his dark glasses up his faces. "I do not think it is a moment worth celebrating. The message was just a big arrow pointing to the northeast. It could mean many things. For instance, it could mean northeast of Iwa, northeast of this location, or even literally, that way," Shino stated, pointing in the same direction as the arrow.

"A-ano, I agree with Shino-kun," Hinata stammered, having finally regained consciousness.

Kiba harumphed and crossed his arms over his chest, looking away. "Well, fine, then me and Akamaru will celebrate by ourselves, right boy?"

The dog barked excitedly.

Shino's arm suddenly snaked out and grabbed Kiba, preventing him from leaving. "Have you forgotten that we were just attacked by an Iwa team? If we separate, they, or another team, might attack us again. And no matter how good you are, you alone cannot take out three Iwa genin in their home territory."

Kiba jerked away, annoyed, and responded, "Alright! Yeesh!"

-

"...So what do we do now?" Chouji wondered as he munched on a handful of delicious chips.

"We'll go back to the hotel to recuperate, and from there, we'll try to find the other teams to tell them about what's happening with Iwa."

"You sure that's a good idea?" Ino asked dubiously. "This is a competition, isn't it? We don't want to help the enemies..."

Shikamaru sighed. "Have you forgotten what the proctors said in the chuunin exams from three years ago? The whole thing is a show of power. If the Konoha teams look bad, Konoha looks bad. We're all Konoha genin here, so there's no need to be so competitive with Team 7, Team 8, and Naruto's team," he explained semi-patiently.

"Ugh, whatever," came Ino's reply.

-

'_Looking for clues? I thought this was the chuunin exams, not hide-and-go-seek._'

**Patience, my dear...patience.**

_'_'_Yeah, yeah, I know that._'

**When Iwa is at its weakest, we will strike!**

**-**

By the end of the first day, two of the four Konoha teams knew the real location of the exam, while the other two only managed to find a simple clue. One Kumo and one Suna team also figured out the location. The remaining foreign teams had been subdued and captured by the Iwa teams. While this wasn't breaking any rules (as no one was harmed, they were just unconscious), it _was _an extreme display of dirty tactics. It was obvious that when this part of the exams were over, the captured genin would tell their teachers what had happened, who would then report to their respective Kage, which would then lead to Iwa losing any favor with the other villages.

Of course, the easiest solution for this problem would be to silence the genin...permanently.

-

At their assigned hotel, the three members of Team 10 each went off to find the other Konoha teams to give them a message to meet up in their room in an hour.

When the hour was up, the twelve Konoha genin convened in Team 10's hotel room on the boys' side, as Ino chose to section off half of the room to call her own.

"What do you want?" Kiba groused.

Sighing, Shikamaru went to start, seeing as how it was his idea in the first place.

"Seeing as how we're all shinobi of Konoha, I thought it would be best to share information. As an act of good faith, we'll start off by telling you guys the location."

"It's in some place called Wudan Peninsula," Ino chipped in.

"And, we have even worse information. I'm guessing all of you were attacked by an Iwa team?" There were six heads nodding in response. Naruto's team did nothing, as they weren't attacked. "As you might know, Ino's family can use techniques that can read an opponent's mind. She used it on one of our attackers, and found out that the genin from Iwa are using a loophole to attack the other teams. Since the rules stated that there weren't any killing allowed, that meant that they could trap, kidnap, knock out, or just plain cripple the rest of the other teams. So, around fifteen Iwa teams were assigned to a team each, and some were assigned more than one, since there are more foreign teams than Iwa teams. I'm guessing that Naruto's team wasn't attacked because they were one of the second teams assigned, and the other genin team was defeated by their first target. That, or their first target just fought back harder."

Chouji and Ino, the two who knew him best, stared at the Nara for a good long minute.

"That's the most I've ever heard him say in one go," Chouji murmured.

Ino agreed with a shocked nod.

Slapping his hand to his forehead, Shikamaru grumbled, "Troublesome. Is that the only thing you guys were paying attention to? How much I spoke?" His tone had hints of irritation in it, which was again, something new for him. "Anyway, it turns out that all of the Iwa teams are cheating anyway, as they knew about the location of the next exam before the this one even started. It doesn't look good when a village cheats to support its own genin. If this got out to the Kages of the other villages, Iwa would be in big trouble. And they know that. So, they're probably going to send ANBU or some other elite nin to try and make sure we don't talk. I'm sure of this. I gathered you guys here to warn you all. Be on your best guard. Do not let it slip for a moment."

As Shikamaru continued to explain the current situation, Naruto looked on in amazement. The boy before him was very talented. His skills in planning and looking ahead were extremely high for someone his age. Higher than other Nara at this age.

Recruiting him would be an excellent idea, but as a Nara, his loyalty to Konoha would be undoubtedly strong. The chances of getting the lazy Nara to join the blond would be close to zero, considering he also had ties of friendship and family in this place.

"Alright? Good. Remember, whatever happens, don't let your guard drop!"

-

'_That smell...no! It can't be! Madoka?!_'

-

Naruto and his team left the hotel to wander the streets, seeing as how the Iwa nin wouldn't try to assassinate the genin in a public place.

They were headed towards a restaurant when Naruto felt something...off.

'_Jinchuuriki!_' his mind shouted at him.

**It's the Nibi...**

Eyes darting around, he managed to focus his gaze onto a nearby rooftop where he sensed the Nibi was located, but as if knowing that someone was watching, the Nibi jinchuuriki disappeared.

-

'_It is! It's Madoka! I can tell, even with that disguise on! It can't be! She's supposed to be dead!_'

**You say that as if you didn't have control over the dead themselves**, the Nibi giggled in Yugito's mind.

'_Yes well, it's not possible to bring her back to life all the way!_'

**True, true....perhaps you should talk to her, find out what happened? Hm?**

'_Good idea. I can't believe it's really her!_'

-

Madoka continued to blather on, not noticing that Hanabi was only pretending to pay attention with an occasional nod and that Naruto was blatantly staring off into space.

Eyes snapping back into focus, he turned his gaze onto an approaching waiter, while his elbows rested on the table of the restaurant they were in.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" the waiter asked Madoka.

"Hm?"

"There's someone asking for you," he stated, pointing off towards the entrance of the restaurant, where a hooded figure stood.

"Who is it?" the girl questioned.

"The lady says that her name is Yugi...?"

Leaping up to her feet, Madoka turned towards her teammates. "I'm gonna go meet her. I'll be right back!"

"Wait," Naruto commanded as he grabbed her arm. "Who is it?" he demanded.

"It's...someone important to me...I think. Just let me go, I'll tell you about it when I get back!"

Acquiescing, the blond fifteen year old let her go, and watched her gallop up to the hooded figure.

-

"Yug-"

"Not here," the figure whispered harshly.

Following the hooded figure, Madoka could feel the butterflies in her stomach. After all this time, she was finally meeting up with her sister again, something she had not expected to do when she had agreed to abandon Kumo.

When they made it to a dark alleyway, the figure suddenly stopped and spun around while pulling off the hood, revealing her face.

"Oh Madoka!" Yugito cried as she gathered her little sister into her arms and hugged her ferociously.

"Yugito-neechan!" Madoka hugged her sister back. "I never thought I'd see you again!"

"That's what I should be saying!" Yugito replied. "What happened? We received news of your death from your sensei after the chuunin exams in Konoha! And here I find you in the company of a bunch of Konoha nin?"

Toeing the ground, the younger sister told the older, "It just happened, I guess. This Konoha genin approached me and he just...convinced me to join him. I didn't want to stay in Kumo where Mother was just going to marry me off to preserve the 'noble' blood of the Nii clan! Please don't tell the Raikage!" she pleaded.

Stepping back, Yugito slipped her hand into her sleeve, pulling out her headband. Showing her younger sister the logo, she watched as Madoka gasped.

"You too?" Madoka asked upon seeing the slash that ran through the symbol of Kumo.

"I had to find out the truth about your 'death', and this was the only way I was allowed to..."

The sounds of voices was suddenly heard. It seemed like a drunk couple was making their way into the alley to spend some time together.

"I can't be seen, not even by a drunk couple. I'll try and get in contact with you in several days, ok, Matty?" Yugito asked, using her affectionate name for Madoka. Grabbing the younger girl's head, she placed a loving kiss on her forehead.

"Wait, I want you to meet my-"

Yugito had disappeared before Madoka could finish her sentence.

"-teammate..."

The source of the raucous laughter came into view. Ignoring the giggles from the obviously inebriated couple, Nii Madoka returned to the restaurant.

-

**You finally found your sister...**

'_That I did, Nibi-sama._'

**So what are you going to do now?**

'_...I don't know. I never imagined that my little sister would still be alive!_'

**Why don't you join her as a kunoichi of whatever village she has joined now? **the great feline demon asked.

'_You mean Konoha? I don't think that's a good idea. Remember the incident with the Hyuuga? Their clan is a major part of the village, so I don't think they'd take too kindly to one of the commanding officers of that little mission joining their village,_' she retorted.

**So don't tell them that you were one of the ones in charge of that mission then**, the Nibi responded, not quite understanding her container's reluctance.

'_You don't understand, Nibi-sama. Konoha is known for their extremely impressive information network._'

**It must not have been that good if you were able to kidnap one of those white-eyed humans**, the demon scoffed.

'_The fact remains, thought, that I may be denied entrance, even executed immediately, if I show myself to the nin from Konoha._'

The two fell into a brief lapse of silence.

-

When Madoka came back, her normally pale face was a bit flushed, and she seemed to be in a really good mood.

Naruto took one look at her and raised his eyebrow.

"I'll tell you later," she whispered to her two teammates.

Nodding in acceptance, the blond boy quickly waved for the check. Money was exchanged, and the trio retired to their hotel.

When they made it into the room that they shared, Madoka explained her meeting with her sister. After she finished, Naruto began to think.

'_Could it be? Has fate really given me such luck by creating this coincidence?_'

"Naruto?" Madoka prodded softly.

"Hm?"

"Do...you think my sister could...well, ya know...join us?"

"Join us?" he repeated.

"Yeah! My sister's a missing nin now, and well, she doesn't have many places to stay, since there's now a bounty on her head and all."

Mentally, he thought, _'If what I'm thinking is correct, I'd love to have her join us._'

Outloud, Naruto replied, "We'll see when the time comes."

Sighing, Madoka nodded glumly.

-

Several days later, the week was over, and the remaining teams gathered at their destination: Wudan Peninsula. It was, as its name suggested, a giant peninsula jutting out into the ocean.

Looking about, Naruto counted all four Konoha teams present, as well as five Iwa teams, two teams from Suna, and one team from both Kusa and Taki.

He knew for a fact that Ame and Kiri never sent any teams, due to their own civil wars. However, for Oto and Kumo, he had no idea about their situation. Perhaps they had either failed the first exam, or they never sent teams either. Probably the former in Oto's case and the latter in Kumo's case.

A different chuunin stood at the front this time, preparing her speech for the new genin. When Naruto caught a look at her, his eyebrows rose in surprise. What were the chances that _she _would be the proctor for this exam?

"Alright, for the second exam, you have one objective. To be one of the last ones conscious."

There was an immediate uproar of questions.

Waiting until they silenced, the chuunin continued. "The second exam is a battle royale. You guys will fight until only twenty of you still remain conscious. Therefore, killing other genin is not necessary for you to pass. To keep you guys from escaping during the fighting, this entire area will have a massive circular wall placed around it. Once only twenty remain, just call out or knock on the wall, and we'll bring it down. The exam will take place immediately, so you have no time to stock up on supplies nor talk to your senseis for advice. For those of you who believe you are not ready, you may forfeit this exam. Before we get started, I'm going to need you to sign a waiver so that we are not held responsible if you die. If you have questions, now is the time. If you want to forfeit, just raise your hand and tell me when I call on you."

A number of hands shot up.

"Are there any other rules to this exam?" someone asked.

"No, no rules except to be among the twenty conscious genin. You do not need all three members of your team to be conscious or alive to pass this exam yourself."

A bloodthirsty Kusa genin asked, "Once we get to twenty genin left, someone is going to knock on the wall or shout out. Can we still try and take out several genin before it comes down, so that there is less than twenty?"

"Yes. However, if you get caught doing so when the wall is completely down, you will be immediately disqualified."

Following her speech, the Iwa chuunin pointed at the team closest to her, a trio of Suna nin, and beckoned them over. She led them away from the now restless and cautious genin, handed them a waiver to sign, and then shooed them off.

-

"Next."

Naruto, Hanabi, and Madoka approached, following the female proctor behind the wall.

"Sign this waiver please. Now, go wait somewhere in the area," she droned in a bored fashion.

After having signed the waiver, Naruto formed a seal with his hands.

"Kai," he intoned.

The chuunin's back arched, and her mouth opened in a silent scream. Suddenly, she collapsed to her knees.

"Long time no see, Yuki."

-

A/N: Sorry about that giant delay. Problems with the computer and internet…


	15. Chapter 15: The Second Exam

Chapter 15: The Second Exam

"Long time no see, Yuki."

"Master!"

"I've seen you've been promoted while I was gone," Naruto commented.

"Naruto? Who is this?" Hanabi asked.

"She's my sleeper in Iwa."

"Wait a second…wasn't she in the chuunin exams back in Konoha?"

"Yeah," the blond undercover agent replied. "She answers to me now."

"Naruto-sama! I have urgent news for you!" Lowering her voice so as to not be heard, Yuki told him, "There is a radical group within Iwa that is planning to overthrow the current Tsuchikage and take over during the third exam. The group is full of shinobi who hate Konoha due to the Yellow Flash's massacre during the second war! They're going to kill all of the foreign nin during the third exam, as well as kill the Tsuchikage and all of his followers."

Taking a moment to digest this new information, Naruto asked, "But won't they be afraid of the consequences of their actions?"

Yuki shook her head. "They've somehow acquired some kind of ultimate weapon that they plan to use if the other nations declare war on them."

"Do you know what the weapon is?"

Naruto's undercover agent shook her head fervently.

"How reliable is this information?"

"My whole family belongs to this radical group, so we know directly."

"Very well. This will require meticulous planning..."

-

Once all of the participants had signed the waiver, Yuki left the area. In a few moments, a circular wall of earth rose up, encapsulating all of the genin inside, leaving only the top unguarded so that light could be let in.

The Konoha teams stood together near the northern part of the circle, while the Iwa teams took up the southern part. The remaining teams, two from Suna, one from Kusa, and one from Taki, were split among the western and eastern parts of the circle.

The Kusa genin who had spoken up earlier about taking down more genin before the walls were completely gone stepped into the center of the circle.

"Well?" he asked. "Let's get this party started!"

He threw two kunai towards his three o'clock and his nine o'clock, totally missing all of the teams.

"Is that all you got?" a member of the Suna team returned cockily. Suddenly, two explosions rocked the area. Two Suna genin, including the one who spoke, were thrown off balance.

A second Grass nin leapt up and shouted, "Kage Shuriken!" His three shuriken became dozens and impaled the two stumbling Sand nin, leaving only 37 genin inside.

A pillar of earth rose from the ground and smashed the second Grass nin into the wall, making a Grass sandwich...with lots of _ketchup_.

"Holy shit! You fuckers!" the first Grass nin exclaimed. Turning his attention to the perpetrator, a Rock genin, he engaged the poor boy in a taijutsu match.

While all of this happened, six of the other Rock genin disappeared underground, hoping to make quick work of other unsuspecting people.

Shikamaru noticed this and shouted to his comrades, "They're below us!"

The entire Konoha contingent scattered in different directions, avoiding the lethal strikes that came from below.

A ball of flame smashed into three of the genin from Iwa as they appeared, causing them to unleash horrible cries of pain.

Soon, it degenerated into one massive ninjutsu battle. Balls of fire, spouts of water, bolts of lightning, and pillars of earth were flying every few seconds in every direction. It was horribly difficult to tell who was friend and who was foe. For some, it didn't even matter.

Within minutes, the number of 33 was cut down to 26. Of the villages represented here, only Konoha was left unscathed. They had no casualties so far, while everyone else had at least one dead member. Besides the twelve Leaf genin, there were six Rock nin, one Grass nin, two Taki nin, and five Sand nin remaining. Only six more needed to be eliminated to pass the exam.

They were at a brief impasse. Everyone's eyes were darting from one person to the next, trying to pick out the next person to kill. They also used this time as a quick respite, hoping to catch their breath or regain as much chakra as they could.

The impasse ended when one of the six genin representing Iwa appeared from the wall and grabbed Sakura. The girl let out a surprised shriek, causing all to look her way. With a powerful yank, the genin dislocated Sakura's shoulder. The surprised shriek turned into a strangled sob of pain.

"Sakura!" Ino yelled frightfully. She ran forward to try to at least avenge her friend with naught but a kunai in hand, only to be stopped by a kick in the stomach from the Grass nin. Bending over due to the force of the attack, her attacker grabbed her by the back of her shirt, flinging her at the rest of the Konoha nin. With them occupied about making sure their teammate was alright, the Grass nin turned to the Rock genin that had just dropped Sakura to the side. With two steps, he was in the air and shooting water projectiles at his enemy.

A blur sped past the flying genin and deflected the water projectiles away, while the original target disappeared under the earth.

"You ok, Sakura?" Naruto asked.

All he got in reply was a weak moan.

The moment the Kusa genin landed, Naruto landed his flaming fist into the other boy's stomach, sending him flying into the wall.

"Whoa!" Kiba exclaimed. "Your arm is on fire!"

Naruto leveled an annoyed glance at him before taking off to finish up the injured genin from Grass.

As he ran towards his opponent, he unleashed a barrage of weak fireballs. They smashed into the other boy, who then turned into mud. The blond leapt to the left right away, avoiding a slash from behind that would have bisected him if he had not moved. As his body moved to the left, his arm swung back, hitting the Grass genin with a backhand that rocketed him right towards Kiba's waiting claws. The Kusa genin, digging the tips of his feet into the ground, slowed himself from being impaled, and used his built up momentum to launch a massive side kick at Kiba, who took it with a surprised look in his face. With such a powerful attack, Kiba could do nothing to stop himself from smashing into his teammate Shino and hitting the wall. The two slumped down and didn't get up.

Without a moment's pause, Naruto appeared behind the Grass nin, bent down in a leg sweep. His danger sense tingling, the older man jumped over Naruto's leg and brought his leg down on Naruto's knee, trying to snap his leg. In response, Naruto used his pivoting leg to kick out at the side of the attacking leg, sending the drop kick off target and into the ground instead. As soon as the man's leg hit the ground, the blond ANBU pulled a kunai out with a reverse grip and stabbed it in the calf, causing the man to yell in pain. Naruto then followed the attack up with a slice at the neck. The throat was successfully slit, and the Kusa genin, who had put up a valiant fight, had finally been defeated.

While Naruto had been engaged in combat with the man from Kusa, the Rock nin who had fled earlier returned to finish off Sakura, who was not yet unconscious (and thus, still a participant).

This time, the Uchiha, whose eyes were spinning with the Sharingan, disappeared in a burst of speed, and buried his foot into the other boy's stomach. As the boy bent over, Sasuke fired a single fireball at his back. Feeling the heat from the attack, the other boy formed a few hand seals while curling up in a ball, making the earth rise and form a protective cocoon around him. The fireball splashed against the cocoon and dispersed, protecting the boy completely. However, Sasuke realized that the inside of the cocoon would be unbearably hot by now. So, he spat several more successive fireballs and numerous gouts of flame. It wasn't too long before the ball of earth dropped and the boy collapsed, dead from the insufferable heat.

Unluckily for Sakura, the cooked genin fell right next to her, his burnt face less than a foot away. With a loud squeak, she fainted.

By now, three Suna genin were dead. The ones from the Country of Wind had decided to take on the weak-looking Taki nin five versus two, only to be shocked at how powerful they actually were. They definitely learned that looks can be deceiving.

There were five remaining Iwa genin. Each one had a target, and each target was from Konoha. As one, they rose from the earth like divers emerging from the water, and struck.

Of their five targets only two remained unscathed. The other three, Ino, Chouji, and Hinata, suffered wounds. Ino had the worse, having been pierced in the lung. She collapsed to the ground and started coughing up copious amounts of blood. The two who were unharmed, Hanabi and Madoka, had disposed of their attackers as soon as they had left the ground, leaving only three Iwa genin.

Naruto, seeing three of his fellow genin injured, hurriedly shouted to the outside. "We're below twenty now! Bring down the wall!"

As soon as he finished yelling, the massive earth walls that had surrounded them retreated back into the ground.

A group of medics, along with the jounin senseis, who arrived several minutes after the battle royale started, rushed in.

One medic appeared at Ino's side almost immediately. Within a few minutes, her pierced lung was fixed.

"She just needs a few days of rest, and she'll be fine," the medic stated to Shikamaru, before moving off to tend to some of the other combatants.

When all of the genin were healed enough to be conscious, Yuki, the chuunin residing over this exam, cleared her voice to capture everyone's attention.

"With the conclusion of the second exam, we have a total of sixteen participants remaining. Of this number, three are from Iwa, nine are from Konoha, two are from Taki, and two are from Suna. You now have one month to prepare for the third exam, which will take place back inside our village. Until then, you are free to do whatever you want. Good luck."

-

"Failures! All of you!"

The tall and bulky Tsuchikage's face was red with anger. His thick mustache, normally tame and combed, was wet with sweat.

"We had the numbers. We had the element of surprise. We had everything _covered_! And still, you useless shits messed everything up!"

He was screaming at the genin who had survived the two exams and several members of his council. Their plan to wipe out as many enemy genin (focusing mainly on those from Konoha) had failed epicly, seeing as how only three of the original twelve were defeated. They weren't even killed!

Yamashiro, the Tsuchikage, continued his rant on their stupidity and uselessness, while his audience listened with bowed heads and anxiety. At the peak of his rant, the Tsuchikage grabbed his spear, which was propped up against his seat, and threw it at the closest person. The spear pierced the person's stomach and continued on, stopping only after smashing into the thick earthy walls. It was Arisawa, the Hattori member who had originally expressed his disbelief and denial of Naruto defeating Hanzo. Arisawa coughed twice and spat out the blood in his mouth on the carpeted floor.

"W-....w-...w-"

"Get this useless trash out of here! And the rest of you, get out of my sight!" Yamashiro bellowed.

The Tsuchikage, having lost control of his anger, spent the next few minutes calming himself while his people departed. In his mind, he went over contingency plans and what-if scenarios of what would happen during the third exam. His mind finally went back to his secret weapon. It was all he needed if his village was to come under attack.

Unfortunately for him, he did not realize that the man he carelessly killed in cold blood had a family member in the crowd that had been in his office only minutes ago. A family member who had loved the now deceased Arisawa.

-

Mika returned to her clan compound immediately after leaving the Tsuchikage's office. With a hurried gait, she approached her aunt, unshed tears in her eyes.

"Chikara-sama!" she called out.

Turning around, the head of the Hattori clan noticed that her niece was in turmoil, something uncommon for the young girl.

"What's wrong?" Chikara asked as she led Mika into a nearby room.

"The Tsuchikage..."

"Yes? What about him?"

"He killed Arisawa!"

"What?!" Chikara questioned in shock.

"He killed him! For no reason whatsoever!" Mika shouted.

Pulling the young girl closer, Chikara held her silently in a hug, allowing the younger girl to release her tears.

"Don't worry, my dear. Don't worry. Shushhhh," Chikara said in consolation, rubbing her niece's back gently.

Mika's tears soon turned into snarls of hatred. "That bastard! He doesn't deserve the title of Tsuchikage! What kind of Kage kills his own people for failing?"

"I know, dear, I know."

"We can't continue to stay here in Iwa, Chikara-sama. Not with a leader like _him_!"

"You know I agree with you, but what can we do?"

"This is one thing I _don't _know, Mika. But we'll do what we must to survive. It's what we've been doing, and it's what we'll continue doing."

-

A/N: Who knew that writing a battle royale like this would be so hard?


End file.
